Bog Witch: Edinburgh Fringe
On her recent trip to the Edinburgh Fringe, the Dukes' Head of Programme Emma Nixon visited Bog Witch, which will be stopping by the Dukes in September. Read below to hear Emma's thoughts!
Bryony Kimmings’ Bog Witch is a gloriously unexpected mixture of comedy, confession, music, folklore and climate anxiety. Returning to the stage after several years away, Kimmings turns her own attempt to escape the excesses of urban life and reconnect with nature into a funny, unhinged and surprisingly tender piece of autobiographical theatre. At its heart, the show follows Kimmings as she leaves behind the comforts and consumerism of city life and moves with her family to a remote rural homestead. However, in all her attempts to live sustainably, complications arise, proving that the countryside isn’t a cure, but causes isolation, grief, motherhood, community and climate anxiety to collide. This show slowly becomes a portrait of someone trying, somewhat desperately, to work out how to live in a world that feels increasingly broken.
Kimmings holds the audience, gently but purposefully, in the palm of her hand throughout. She is such an engaging performer and can go from side-splittingly hilarious comedy to genuine vulnerability within minutes, and this for me contributes to the show’s great success.
The production itself is imaginative and atmospheric. Will Duke's projections and Tom Parkinson's music help transform the stage from a comic recreation of rural life into something much stranger and more primal. Folk imagery, witches and the natural world gradually take on greater significance, allowing Kimmings to connect her personal experience with older ideas about women, nature and the supposedly threatening figure of the witch.
I didn’t know what to expect from Bog Witch – I’m sure many of you feel the same, because truly, there is nothing you can compare it to. It is completely unique. This performance was one of the highlights of the Edinburgh Fringe for me, and I left with tears in my eyes having felt the full spectrum of emotions, knowing that we the audience had become Kimmings’ community for that precious 80 minutes. It is gloriously compelling, funny and heartbreaking all in one. I would implore you to experience it for yourself.
