Witches walk among us. So says the comedy “Bell, Book & Candle,” onstage Halloween at Lemon Bay Playhouse. Joseph Giglio plays a “mundane” by the name of Shepard Henderson.
“It's about modern-day witchcraft being performed in New York City, all around, and how a lot of us would have no idea that it's actually going on,” Giglio said.
Set in the 1950s, the “Bell, Book & Candle” community of witches and warlocks – known as a coven – frequents certain hangouts in the city.
Redlitch: You probably thought of witchcraft as being confined to jungles and places like that. So did I. Until now.
Gillian Holroyd: Oh?
Redlitch: You won't believe this, but right here, all around you, there's a whole community devoted to just that.
Shepard Henderson: That's a novel idea.
Redlitch: It's not an idea, it's a fact.
Gillian Holroyd: How do you know?
Nicky Holroyd: Tell us.
Redlitch: Well, I met a couple through my book, and they let me in on a few things. And from there, well, I make it my business to find things out. Oh, you won't believe. You know, they've got their own hangouts, like cafes, restaurants, bars, that sort of thing.”
Some people are born witches. Others discover their powers later in life … like Aunt Queenie, played by Linda Ramzell.
“I came into it late in my life,” said Ramzell, slipping into character. “I was boring and a normal person, kind of, but never quite normal. Always thought there was something different about me. And knowing that my nieces were witches and became witches even before me, I became a witch. I'm not a very good witch, though.”
One of those nieces is Gillian Holroyd. She yearns to spend just one evening with an ordinary, normal man — such as her upstairs tenant, book publisher Shep Henderson. But … he’s about to announce his engagement … to her college nemesis!
Gillian Holroyd: She used to write poison pen letters. I caught her writing one about me once. That’s why we had all those thunderstorms that spring. She was terrified of them, and we had one every day for a month. It was extraordinary.
Aunt Queenie: What? Darling, that was you? Oh, darling, you are wicked.
Gillian Holroyd: She was a nervous wreck by the end of the term.
To scuttle her rival’s engagement, Gillian casts a spell on Henderson that makes him fall head-over-heels in love with her.
Shep Henderson: “There is a wonderful, suspended, timeless feeling to this moment and the two of us like this. I feel spellbound.”
But then she falls in love with him.
It’s one reason, says Giglio, that audiences find the play so captivating.
“It's going to make them all remember what it's like when you first fall in love, that magic that we all have felt at one time or another in our lives,” Giglio said. “And we've also all had to be honest at one time or another in our lives, even when it's very difficult. And it also makes them, I'm going to say, almost happy tears at the end. It's got a great ending and a realization that love does exist and the power of love.”
Present-day witches celebrate the new year on Nov. 1, with Halloween night providing an opportunity to communicate with spirits, but this play is set on Christmas Eve.
“Having it around Christmas and having the lovers meet at Christmas … as witches, we celebrate these things,” noted Ramzell. “We celebrate the joy of it and the gift-giving. So, you know, it's a good time of year for this, and it's not expected.”
Both the play and movie version of “Bell, Book & Candle,” along with the 1942 movie “I Married a Witch,” served as inspiration for the 1960s sitcom “Bewitched” featuring a beautiful witch played by Elizabeth Montgomery who casts a spell on a mortal only to genuinely fall in love with him.
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“Bell, Book & Candle” is not alone in claiming that witches walk among us. That is also the subject of recent CNN and Time articles.
The CNN and Time stories point out that witches are not confined to covens and covens extend well beyond New York. In fact, there is a global community of witches whose members share potions, incantations and tips for improving their craft on WITCH TOK. Their videos on that platform have amassed over 5.2 billion views.
Although bad witches like the Wicked Witch of the West, the “weird sisters” from “Macbeth” (“Double, double, toil and trouble…fire burn, and cauldron bubble”) and Bellatrix Lestrange of “Harry Potter” ill repute give witches a bad name, most modern day witches subscribe to a low-key, benign form of hedonism.
Modern witchcraft stresses love of the Earth and love of self. It is a way of interpreting the world and finding one’s place in it. Although modern witches cast spells and brew potions, there are no quick fixes or easy answers. You have to love yourself for your magic to be strong.
Seizing on the latter point, “Bell, Book & Candle” playwright John Van Druten postulates in the play that if a witch such as Gillian falls in love, she loses her magic. It is as if to say that a woman cannot love both herself and her romantic partner. It’s one or the other. Either/or.
Modern witchcraft rejects this formulation. In Wicca, Celtic-based neo-paganism and traditional spiritual paths, falling in love or entering a romantic relationship does not deplete, cancel, or diminish a person's magical abilities or spiritual practice. Hence, many practitioners balance everyday life, families, and relationships while continuing their craft.
While Van Druten did indulge that common trope, he did get something else right in “Bell, Book & Candle” when he has Gillian Holroyd state that although she could manipulate the stock market or wreak other types of havoc, there could be much blowback to her personally, emotionally and financially.
“Wiccan witches subscribe to the Wiccan Rede, essentially the 10 commandments for witches and neopagans,” writes Isabella Greenwood in “Is it ever ethical to cast a love spell? Witches Weigh In.” “The Wiccan Rede states, ‘Mind the Threefold Law you should, three times bad and three times good.’ This is the equivalent of the witch’s wording of Karma: anything you do, whether good or bad, will return to you threefold. Witches understand fate can be manipulated if absolutely necessary, but generally trust that everyone gets what they give eventually. "I think we need to ask ourselves, ‘Why do I want to hex this person? Does this person deserve a more severe punishment than what karma will ultimately bring their way anyway?’’ writes Jennifer Lane, author of ‘The Witch's Survival Guide: Spells For Healing From Stress and Burnout,’ as a remedy for acting negatively out of impulse.”
Gillian confronts this blowback in “Bell, Book & Candle” when Shep Henderson rejects her after learning that she placed a love spell on him, thereby usurping his free will.
Then there’s the issue of a man’s reaction to a woman owning and using her own power. Claiming the power of spellwork is inherently a feminist and queer act. Spellcasting enables people to access their own personal power, and to refuse a world which has ever made them feel unworthy or criminal for exercising it.
Cast
Megan Hendrick plays the part of Gillian Holroyd with a beguiling blend of allure, reserve and poise. She’s a woman clearly in command of formidable powers which she exercises in a deliberate and considered manner … until she doesn’t. Hendrick previously appeared at Lemon Bay Playhouse in “Spreading it Around” and “Now and Then.” Other stage credits include “Emma,” “The Amish Project” and Syncopation,” all at Venice Theatre.
Joseph Giglia plays the role of Gillian’s tenant and love interest, Shep. He has been performing in community theater for 25 years. He was last seen at Lemon Bay Playhouse as Dwayne in “Sleeping Indoors,” Larry in “Dinner at the Flemmings” and Johnny Bubbles in “The Psychic.” Other stage credits include “Ragtime,” “Sound of Music,” “The Full Monty,” “South Pacific,” “1776,” “My Fair Lady” and “Annie” at Venice Theatre.
Playing the part of Gillian’s Aunt Queenie is Linda Ramzell. Ramzell most recently portrayed Charlotte Sanders in Lemon Bay Playhouse’s production of “Theatre People.” Other Lemon Bay Playhouse credits include “Pie in the Sky,” “Spreading It Around” and “Art of Murder.” Other credits include “The Learned Ladies” at Venice Theatre, “Dogwood Winter” at Cultural Park Theatre in Cape Coral, and “Candide,” “Macbeth” (Lady M), “The Tempest,” “Blithe Spirit,” “The Sisters Rosensweig,” Edward Albee’s “The Goat” and Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Ramzell is a longstanding member of AEA/SAG-AFTRA.
Jill Houghton plays Gillian’s sister, Nicky. Houghton has appeared in Shakespeare, modern comedies and original community theater productions in St. Louis and along the Gulf Coast. She is also an award-winning Toastmaster and experienced public speaker.
Randy Huft appears in the role of writer Redlitch. Huft has appeared in productions nationwide, including “Othello,” “The Odd Couple,” “Rounding Third,” “Lost in Yonkers,” “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” “Our Town,” “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Dial M for Murder,” “ “Lonely Planet,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “A Nice Family Gathering,” the world premiere of “The Quote” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” He has also written and directed hundreds of television commercials and authored several books and screenplays.
Director
Susana Falcon directs. Pyewacket assistant directs.
A former member of AEA and SAG, Falcon has acted in feature films and commercials, Off-Broadway productions, regional and dinner theatre, and musical tours throughout Europe and on cruise ships. As an author, she has 20 works of fiction published by Amber Quill Press, along with one self-published book available on Amazon.
For six years, she taught various writing and literary courses at State College of Florida, including screenwriting.
Her directing credits include “Pie in the Sky” at Lemon Bay Playhouse last year and “Theatre Odyssey” in Sarasota.
Now in its 39th season, Lemon Bay Playhouse is at 96 W Dearborn Street, Englewood.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
