Witches, The Play

This past summer I had the pleasure of appearing in "Witches," a fantasy comedy by talented actor/playwright Scott Courlander for the Capital Fringe Festival. Fringe Festivals present a wonderful opportunity to premier new works with minimalist staging, and each summer more than a hundred plays and other kinds of performances, involving more than 500 actors and entertainers, get a sneak preview here in the nation's capital.

It is worth noting that  Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Stephen Fry got their start in 1981 in just such a festival - albeit a somewhat larger one, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - and the rest is history.

"Witches," a play about a sleepy princess found in an enchanted wood and awakened by three witches with hilarious results, is one of many Courlander has produced through his company, Red Knight Productions. It was not only great fun to do (I earned "Favorite Performance" honors from DC Metro Theater Arts for my portrayal of the witch Beatrice) but I'm hoping it will go on to full staging and great success (in which case, I can boast that I appeared in the premier).

Here I am with actor Stephen Mead, who played The Jester.