“It was really exciting to get to tell this story as a new story”: The Team of Witch Hunt Interviewed on Bay Area Radio

Those Women Production’s latest staged production, Witch Hunt, presents a completely new look at a seemingly well-known era in American history: the Salem witch panic. Playwright Carol S. Lashof’s new drama explores the origins of the infamous era and uncovers its ties to our present moment in history, told from the perspective of Tituba, a captive indigenous woman who was the first to be accused of witchcraft.

“Most of what’s in the popular culture [on the Salem witch panic] is a gross distortion of the historical record.” – Playwright Carol S. Lashof on research and motivation for writing Witch Hunt, on KALW

Lashof, director Elizabeth Vega, and cast members Renee Rogoff and Sofia Angelopoulos share their thoughts on bringing this work to the stage, in interviews with local radio stations KPFA, KPOO, and KALW.

“You think about how much you think you know…I was mind-blown as to [Tituba’s] story…It’s the story of a woman who is ripped away from her home in the most violent and traumatic way…but you also see the strength of the human spirit through her…she finds the joy and the value in the very little that she has, and she’s willing to do anything to protect it.” – Actress Renee Rogoff on playing Tituba, on KPOO

“[Carol and I] have the same feeling that we want our audiences to take away. And her job is to convey that feeling on the page, and my job is to stand that feeling up and put it into action.” – Director Elizabeth Vega on collaboration with Lashof, on KPFA