Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern
Touring
3/5

JANE WENHAM was one of the last women to be accused of witchcraft in England and the circumstances leading up to her trial, in the Hertfordshire village of Walkern in 1712, is loosely used as source material for Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s new play.

A metaphor for the female “other,” the production invites the audience to view independent-spirited herbalist Jane (Amanda Bellamy) as a totem for all women who are pilloried for standing outside of society’s accepted norms.

In doing so it exposes hypocrisies around patriarchy and religion, contrasting the choices that are open to the village’s men with its women.

Accused of involvement in a child’s death, Jane is denounced by locals including Ann Thorne (Hannah Hutch), whose own mother was hanged for witchcraft and who’s losing her mind with grief.

The case is investigated by new parson Samuel Crane (Tim Delap), whose religious zealotry nevertheless permits sexual double standards.

This is much to the consternation of Bishop Francis Hutchinson (David Acton), enlightened enough to discredit witchcraft but not averse to making sexual demands on his servant, the former slave Kemi Martha (Cat Simmons).

Their conflicting beliefs determine the fate of the village’s women but it’s when their intellectual debate is challenged by real life that the play delivers its emotional punches.

When Jane is visited by “the witch pricker” it’s hard not to flinch as incisions are made on her naked body.

And when Martha insists that she’s “never had such a thing [as choice]” she powerfully highlights the claustrophobia of a woman’s situation and the insularity of the village.

Such moments mean that, even when the characters are occasionally drawn a little two-dimensionally, the Out Of Joint production sparks wider discussion long after the cast has taken its final bow.

Tours until January 30, details: outofjoint.co.uk

Review by Susan Darlington