The underlying premise of Witchcraft - a gothic drama being staged by Concordia's Department of Theatre - is as relevant today as when Joanna Baillie wrote it in the 1820s about the last witch trials in Scotland in the early 1730s.

"People are as likely to become excitable now as when the women in Baillie's play faced persecution for supposedly being witches in 18th-century Scotland," explains Louis Patrick Leroux, an associate professor in the Departments of English and Études françaises who co-directs the production with PhD candidate Cristina Iovita. "The play speaks to us because it raises questions about society getting caught up in its demons and generating fear -- even hysteria."

Leroux introduces the contemporary elements of video, film and recorded sound. "The play lends itself to stagecraft with its stormy moments and numerous characters moving in and out of scenes, but we avoided repeating what happens on stage in favour of adding to the audience's understanding." 

A video, for example, serves as a prologue to explain what happened three years earlier. A film provides a deeper comprehension of Jessie, a central figure who hardly appears on stage in the original script.

"The challenge was to use video and film in ways that didn't make people feel as if they were viewing elements that had nothing to do with the actual play," Leroux says. "We've textured flashbacks in black and white and used collage effects." 

Leroux was able to experiment as matralab's artist-in-residence. Sandeep Bhagwati, the Canada Research Chair in Inter-X Art Practice and Theory, created matralab as part of the Hexagram Institute for Research/Creation in Media Arts based at Concordia. matralab is designed to encourage mixing various disciplines, cultures, media and interactive art to gain insight into emerging forms of aesthetic expression.

Costumes, sets and other production elements were created by theatre students, while film elements were developed at Hexagram and matralab.

Leroux and Iovita's version of Witchcraft includes videos that provide additional insight into the characters.

Iovita, one of Leroux's doctoral students, brings vast experience to the project as an award-winning director and playwright. Primarily responsible for directing the 23 actors from Concordia's theatre department, she's reintegrated some of the codified gestures used in Baillie's era to express scorn, dejection, tranquility and other states of being in ways that modern audiences will find believable.

"The production that will come alive at the D.B. Clarke Theatre is not an exercise, but the result of one," she emphasizes. "We hope everyone enjoys it."

An important precursor to Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Baillie's play was never staged during her life. Leroux thinks Baillie, who embraced stagecraft and scientific experiments, would have liked this rendering.

"We've engaged with this play to bring it to life for modern audiences rather than merely treating it an as important historical piece," he says.

Witchcraft is the first Department of Theatre production to be staged in the fully renovated D.B. Clarke Theatre. Upgrades to the venue include new seats, curtain and carpeting, beautifully refurbished teak interior, upgraded fly system, and a reconfigured lobby.

When: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 8 p.m.
Thursday, December 1, 8 p.m.
Friday, December 2, 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 3, 2 and 8 p.m.
Sunday, December 4, 2 p.m.
Where: D.B. Clarke Theatre, Henry F. Hall Building (1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.), Sir George Williams Campus

Tickets, $10 regular admission, $5 for students and seniors, are available in person only at the D.B. Clarke Theatre, the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall and at the door. No reservations.

Related links:

• Department of English
• Département d'études françaises
• matralab
• D.B. Clarke Theatre

• Attend our information session
• Take a tour of the Theatre facilities
  
• Get your Design for the Theatre portfolio reviewed for constructive feedback
  
• Meet students, staff and faculty
• And much, much more!

Canada is often depicted as a tolerant society where people of different ethnicities, languages, religions and sexualities cohabit in peace. Yet our human mosaic can be jarring for some.

That's why a group of artists has created a bilingual play, Differences/The Clash, to reflect on potential culture shocks that differences can foster. Directed by Élisabeth Couture, a part-time instructor in the Concordia Department of Theatre, the play caters to anyone concerned with social justice. It will be performed at the Loyola Campus later this month.

"Our modern culture is complex," says Couture. "The goal of our play is to give audiences an opportunity to explore identity and acceptance as well as consider different points of view."

The first act is a more traditional play that includes images and movements interpreted by actors Joliane Allaire (a student in Concordia's Special Individualized Programs), Lois Jones (a student in the Department of Theatre) and Hassan Kalot.

• Differences / The Clash will be performed on September 24, at 5 p.m., at the Cazalet Theatre on Concordia's Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke St. W.).
• A second performance unfolds October 1, at 7:30 p.m., at the Centre Alexandre-DeSève in Montreal (2040 Alexandre-DeSève St.).
• Admission: Voluntary with a suggested contribution of $5 to $10.
• Information: 514-914-3028.