Aim

PRICK was inspired to remember the 3,387 people who were accused of witchcraft during the Scottish Witch Hunts, 84% of whom were women.

Light the Match Productions 

We’re a group of Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) students at Edinburgh Napier University, presenting PRICK, a new play about the Scottish witch trials at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe festival. Our project is directed by Meggie Greivell (MFA, Directing ’23), and features actors Abigail McDonald, Carys Turner, Lisa McIntyre, David Clarkson, and Lev Siegel (all MFA Acting, Stage & Screen), and Ewan Jardine (BA, Acting & English). 

Director Meggie Greivell invited Minneapolis playwright Laurie Flanigan Hegge to write a play about the Scottish witch trials for her for her master’s thesis, a production slated for the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. Laurie’s research was driven by the Witches of Scotland, a campaign for justice for those accused and convicted under the Witchcraft Act (1563-1736.) (Find their podcast “Witches of Scotland” in all the usual places—it’s amazing and will lead you down fascinating rabbit holes!) During the play’s development, Laurie met with the cast regularly over Zoom and worked collaboratively with Minneapolis puppet artist Madeline Helling who designed, sculpted and built puppets for this production in her Minneapolis studio across the street from Laurie’s house. 

It’s estimated that almost 4,000 people were accused of witchcraft in Scotland during the years of the Witchcraft Act, that 2,500 people were put to death, and that 84% of the accused were women. This play was created to reclaim a piece of this history, to give voice to the real folk who were caught up in the Scottish witch hunts, and to challenge the narrative about who these women were. Three women appear in PRICK:  an Unknown Woman, whose name is forgotten (often women were simply referred to as "sundry witches" in court records), Marioun Twedy of Peebles, who was accused, pricked, and put to death in 1649 but never confessed, and Isobel Gowdie of Auldearn, well known for her astonishing confessions which have survived in court records.

“The Accused” is a puppet who represents all three of these women, who are conjured, one by one, into a liminal space between life and death, magic and memory, fact and fiction. Here, they face a witch-pricker and confront memories of their interrogations, and “The Accused” enters the physical space on their behalf. Like a poppet, she protects their bodies and psyches from additional harm. She’s a beautiful puppet, haunting and evocative. Each of the women also have a “familiar” to accompany them on their journey into the liminal space—a cat, a fox and a jackdaw, whose flock circles throughout.

Laurie Flanigan Hegge is a playwright, lyricist, and theatre artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She loves building stories around women buried by history. Her most recent project premiered at the History Theatre in St. Paul with Meggie Greivell in the Assistant Director seat: DIRTY BUSINESS, a full-length musical about American spy Betty Pack. Other projects include: SWEET LAND, the musical, (based on the beloved indie film of the same name), BOXCAR, LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS, HORMEL GIRLS, 20 DAYS TO FIND A WIFE, and SEE JANE VOTE. She lives in Minneapolis with her actor-husband and aerialist-daughter.

Madeline Helling is a Minneapolis-based puppet artist whose work is deeply rooted in community. She is an Associate Artist at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, longtime MayDay Parade artist, former Artistic Director of BareBones Puppets, an Artist Instructor at Minneapolis Institute of Art, and has worked with youth at Migizi and Little Earth of United Tribes and the Minnesota Orchestra. She performs her own original work and creates opportunities for fellow puppet artists, launching the Minneapolis Puppet Cabaret and CrankyFest. She collaborated on OLIFANTLAND with Handspring Puppets and Ukwanda Puppets in South Africa and is delighted her next international stop is Edinburgh. She believes that a person of any age and experience can make magic with puppets, which is a language understood the world over. She lives with her spouse and daughter in a house full of puppets and cardboard gems.

These professional theatre artists created a new work specifically for our company, designed and built puppets, and traveled to Edinburgh to workshop the piece and introduce our company to the puppets at their own expense. As students entering the theater as our profession, we know how critical it is to value artists and their work. Simply put, we are raising funds to pay our professional collaborators and cover their workshop and travel expenses. Will you join us in backing this project and supporting the creative team behind it?

Catch PRICK at the Edinburgh Fringe

The Space on the Mile, the Radisson Blu Hotel, August 5-25 (ODD DAYS), 11:15 am

PRICK Ticket Link

Light the Match Productions Website

This project successfully funded on 13th July 2023