Who is Molly Leigh?
B Arts – who are based in Stoke town – have been researching Burslem’s witch Molly Leigh to discover who she really was.
Was she a witch or a misunderstood woman? Review Mel Osborne
Who is Molly Leigh explores the woman behind the rhyme “Molly Leigh, Molly Leigh, can’t catch me.”
Molly Leigh is renown in Stoke-on-Trent as the Burslem based witch born in 1645 who was ousted by the local priest as a witch. Many rumours have circulated, but the reality was she was a healer and entrepreneur with a passion for helping others which did not sit well with the church.
B’Arts is based at an old paint factory in Stoke and frequently used the blank canvas of the factory rooms to create immersive and thought-provoking theatre.
Funded by various organisations including the Arts council England, the production was a collaboration of professionals and community volunteers.
(Images by B Arts. Holly Johnson)
Never expect a traditional theatre at B Arts. There will be a mission and a path to follow and this occasion was no different.
At the beginning of the evening it was explained that the audience would have a choice of rooms to visit throughout the one hour performance.
The choice was – Church, The Blackbirds nest, Tv Studio, Alice’s
Kitchen and The Pub.
Out of these six you were allowed to visit five – the choice was yours.
Whatever the audience member chooses adds a different perspective and layer to revealing who Molly Leigh was.
But what is misinformation and what is truth?
…that is left up to you to decide.
I personally chose the Pub, Alice’s kitchen and the church to visit.
The pub was a welcoming, a hustle of community which you would expect in the 1700s pre-TV and internet. Gossip being the only way to entertain. It was disappointing when we had to leave what felt like a warm and enlightening experience.
But who was right?
The constable who had known her since school, played passionately by Carl Wilson or the Bitter Farmer played by Steve Simpson?
Next at Alice’s kitchen actress Rosie Middleton performed as Mollie Leighs close friend who was left the legacy of providing bread to the needy.
Middleton gave a haunting operatic performance, portraying the grief she was feeling and as an audience we left with chills.
Finally onto the church, Dan Stubbs performance as the Priest was incredible singing the sermon to followers condemning Molly Leigh.
Stubbs has a beautiful voice, and it was delivered crisply with comic precision.
The coming together of The Molly Leigh Choir at the end was mesmerising and beautifully sung.
The Composer and Francesca Le Lohe and Librettist Gareth Mattey have achieved an incredible job devising this beautiful heart aching music which will send shivers down your spine.
Who is Molly Leigh is an engaging and thought-provoking production about ‘witch hunts’ misinformation and the destruction believing unfounded rumours can cause.
This is a triumph for all involved and one not to be missed.
5 stars.
