Fringe review: PRICK, Light the Match/New Celts Productions - Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Sanctioned by the state, fuelled by the church, fed by hysteria and buried in history; these are the excuses behind the Scottish witch hunts. Inspired by the Witches of Scotland campaign to remember those who were victims of this terrible miscarriage of justice, Prick takes us through fact and fiction, past and present, magic and memory, from those that felt threatened by the devil to those that bore the brunt of that terror.

Written by Laurie Flanigan Hegge and directed by Meggie Greivell, the play tells just a few of the many stories of nearly 4000 accused people of the Scottish Witch trials, most of whom were women.

The choice to use puppets in some of the scenes represents just how much these women were tortured and assaulted during these times, to get them to confess to something they had not been a part of.

Abigail McDonald (Marioun Twedy), Lisa McIntyre (Isobel Gowdie) and Carys Turner (Jonet) are our three main 'witches', each bringing their own aptitude to the roles. They engage the audience in their storytelling and we feel a kinship with them immediately.

We'd love to say that witch hunts are a thing of the past, but what this production teaches us is that they are not. They still happen today in parts of the world, so the question is: what exactly have we learnt from the past?

Insightful, sorrowful and gripping.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

Prick plays in Space 3 at theSpace on the Mile at 11.15am until 25 August.