A series of strong performances have us invested more in the characters than in the witch hunt itself.summary
Rating
Good
It is 1645, and in a remote village in England strange doings are afoot. Horses throw their riders, cows fall over and there are unexpected deaths. What else can it be but witchcraft? Written and directed by Joanna Carrick and loosely based on real events, The Ungodly uses the origin of the real life historical figure of the Witchfinder General to look how grief and loss can be turned into powerful weapons in a world still prone to division and an “us versus them” mentality.
Susan (Nadia Jackson) and Richard (Christopher Ashman) are newly married. They live (mostly) godly lives and scoff at Susan’s step brother Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Moisy) when he talks of witches and the supernatural. They have had a series of babies, none of whom lived long, and though this shadow hangs over them, they are happy together and both actors do a really sweet job of showing us the tenderness of their love.
Moisy plays a challenging role as Hopkins, a man marked by a stutter from childhood and a deep-seated resentment towards women. Hopkins seems uncomfortable in his own skin, but as he matures Moisy subtly reveals a peculiar charm beneath his harshness and his growing self-righteousness; we can at least see how Susan and Richard could fall under his influence and be drawn toward dangerous extremes. Think a snake-oil salesman or a modern politician…
Susan underpins everything. At the very core of the story is the loss of her babies, this burden that she carries. It is this loss which makes her susceptible to Matthew’s insidious suggestions that she is a victim, that someone has done this to her and that they must be found and punished. Jackson is more than up to this challenge and brings Susan a quiet but powerful intensity.
A simple set, designed by Katy Latham, features old wooden furniture which is piled up and then moved around as needed. A simple wooden broom, carefully perched in the middle, immediately evokes that iconic image of a witch’s broom as the audience enters. David Newborn’s dim, dusky candlelight design enhances the atmosphere, perfectly setting the mood in the space.
It would have been good to learn a bit earlier that Richard is the local constable, because this adds a sense of authority during the second act that comes slightly out of nowhere. Having said that, Ashman does play him with an undercurrent of steel, and the moments when Richard does explode are extremely powerful, showing great work by Ashman. Rebecca, (Rei Mordue) joins in the second act, and is interrogated and manipulated until she eventually ‘admits’ her part in the local coven, and that the kitten she plays with is a tool of the devil. Another strong performance, as Mordue really lets us understand how this simple girl can be so easily led into confession; even to the extent of leading her mother to the hangman’s noose.
The Ungodly turns out to be something of a supervillain origin story, with Hopkins literally assembling his Witchfinder General persona and costume. It is impossible not to compare with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, in that both explore witch hunts and their relevance to the modern world. Where The Ungodly succeeds is in its portrayal of relationships, finding power less in grand allegory and more in the emotions and connections between its characters.
Written and directed by: Joanna Carrick
Produced and Lighting Design: David Newborn
Design by: Katy Latham
The Ungodly plays at Southwark Playhouse until 16 November. Further information and
tickets can be found here.
