PRESS
"But there are a handful of New York City theatres where women always dominate the spotlight, on and backstage. Founded by women to expand opportunities for their peers, these five companies complement the work of advocacy organizations such as the League of Professional Theatre Women, The Kilroys, Parity Productions and The Lilly Awards, as they fight to bring equality to theatre."
Review: Religion, Rebellion, and Girls' 'Virtuous Fall' on Stage at The Flea
Juliet Hindell
The Tribeca Tribune
"In a joyful and soulful production, it examines a group of high school girls as they grapple with adolescence and the mixed messages from the nuns who teach them... These two excellent productions are running until June 1.They're are an intriguing theatrical reflection of how far women have come in our society, but how far there is still to go."
Review: Spicy Witch Gives New Meaning to 'Justice' in "Measure for Measure"
John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards
Thinking Theater NYC
"This production adjusts the specifics of how pardon and punishment are doled out in the end in ways that both are thematically appropriate and allow the audience to enjoy the spectacle of women measuring out justice. Spicy Witch’s Measure for Measure is an inventive, sharply focused, and fun reimagining of a problem comedy for problematic times."
"This production adjusts the specifics of how pardon and punishment are doled out in the end in ways that both are thematically appropriate and allow the audience to enjoy the spectacle of women measuring out justice. Spicy Witch’s Measure for Measure is an inventive, sharply focused, and fun reimagining of a problem comedy for problematic times."
"Both of these adaptations take liberties with the original text in a purposefully feminist manner to fix the problems in the problem play. What could be a gimmick in the hands of less thoughtful directors than Phoebe Brooks (Measure) and Blayze Teicher (Virtuous Fall) is instead a powerful statement...Both productions, however, are important contributions to the conversation about how the world treats female and nonbinary sexes and genders as inherently sinful."
In The Virtuous Fall of the Girls from Our Lady of Sorrows, girls at a Catholic high school in Brooklyn face religious pressure and the upheavals of growing up. You don’t have to be female, or Catholic, to relate to the adolescents in this sharp, funny new comedy by Gina Femia... this solid cast shepherded skillfully by director Blayze Teicher makes them come alive so thoroughly that we root for them without reserve."
"If you have even a modicum of free time, I urge you to catch Merrily, Merrily before it closes this weekend. For the full Spicy Witch experience, you should also see Life is But a Dream—this is a double feature you don’t want to miss."
"The Virtuous Fall is admirable in having likeable characters take unlikeable positions, as it is for presenting the sexual experience of some of the young women not as a plot point but as a given...The entire cast supplies skillful, bracingly naturalistic performances; and Shin and Lewis are particularly impressive... The production also manages to make moments like one character’s first use of a tampon—an initiation into a different kind of mystery than those of the Church—play as joyful celebration."
"Surrounded by adorable dogs and happy babies, the three of us discussed unicorns, the #MeToo movement, and the challenges of updating Shakespeare’s classic in our current cultural climate."
Theater Review (NYC): Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’ from Spicy Witch Productions
Jon Sobel
Blogcritics
"Measure for Measure is a curious play. The last of Shakespeare’s comedies, it tells a pretty dark story on the way to its more-or-less happy, if abrupt, ending. Spicy Witch Productions‘ new, radically pruned rendition seizes on the theme of the ill treatment of women to create an audacious feminist reading. Fast-paced and well played, it mostly succeeds."
"Surrounded by adorable dogs and happy babies, the three of us discussed unicorns, the #MeToo movement, and the challenges of updating Shakespeare’s classic in our current cultural climate."
"Every season, the all-female run company Spicy Witch Productions (SWP) graces the Lower East Side with two unabashedly feminist productions, running in repertory... Life is But a Dream is a refreshing take on an important classic. And what a perfect cast and creative team to bring this unique take on the story to life. Having seen their work develop over the past few years, I'm happy to say this is SWP's strongest season so far."
"Merrily, Merrily deals with a challenging subject matter... The actors meet the challenge very well. Given the play’s themes, we can’t expect the luxury of a happy or even a tidy ending. As we the audience become engrossed in the story about this family, however, we believe that we at least deserve the promise of a glimmer of hope for the characters’ future. Merrily, Merrily ultimately honors that promise at the play’s conclusion, but it also makes sure that we feel the characters’ pain (particularly that of Dani Martineck’s Stephen) along that journey."
"Meet Spicy Witch Productions, a company even cooler than its name already makes it seem...this is everything we could possibly want in a theater company."
"...Spicy Witch Productions consistently presents thought-provoking and innovative works. If you are a lover of classics, or you’ve seen Bonesetter: A Tragislasher and couldn’t get enough of it, then you should definitely check out The Revenger’s Tragedy."
"Along with a sprinkling of burlesque and sex positivity, The C*nt places a mirror for the audience that both celebrates and pokes fun at our modern social mores... Brought to life by a delightful cast, Anhorn’s characters maintain a thoughtful balance between funny caricatures and uncanny reflections of ourselves... Anhorn’s adaptation is wildly imaginative. She has bestowed upon us a fresh and contemporary reflection on modern relationships. Paired with The Country Wife, both shows offer a delightful array of feminism, gender fluidity, and comedy for audiences to sink their teeth into."
"We really wanted to put on a show; we wanted it to speak to women in theatre and gender, and we all had conversations about what parts as actors we wanted to play that we didn’t think we’d ever get to play. We gave ourselves the opportunities."
[Spicy Witch Productions'] winter season consisted of two excellent productions of The Two Gentlemen of Verona & Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo. Same cast, two very thought provoking shows that opened up much discussion with the actors and audience alike....They are a truly talented and wonderful group of ladies who deserve your support.
"...there’s an astute brilliance to Bonesetter: A Tragislasher. It reflects on both how little and how much has changed since The Revenger’s Tragedy, offering a cornucopia of food for thought."
"I am honored to be working with [Spicy Witch] during the inaugural year of their writer-in-residence program. Since last fall, I have been given the freedom to tell a story that matters to me, while also receiving guidance and support through every step of the writing process."
"The choice to make Horner androgynous adds a fascinating twist. Horner is still a master of deceit, but because he’s staying true to his identity the tricks simply feel like an extension of his personality. This in turn makes for subtle yet significant changes in how Horner fits within the world of the play... Brooks’ direction takes a lot of interesting and thought provoking risks – presenting a classic in a way that feels new and relevant is extraordinarily challenging and this production succeeds... The Country Wife along with its adaptation The C*nt makes for a thoughtfully engaging and funny weekend of theatre."
"[The Country Wife] explores all the different ways that we wear “masks” and hide our true nature from everyone but our lovers. I felt as though this was a perfect opportunity to address the quotidian masks that we all wear, in particular how the traditional performance of “masculinity” or “femininity” might feel like a socially mandated disguise for a genderqueer person. I’m thrilled tell the story of a gender non-conforming romantic hero through this cheeky and deceptively frivolous sex farce."
"...this young company (which was started by five young women) are reaching for something bigger and beyond the scope of just presenting Shakespeare in its regular platform for the umpteenth million time. These young women, through their current season, are looking to critique gender structure and power dynamics within relationships between men and women. They not only wish to present classic and contemporary works, but hope to provoke debate, and ignite a discussion. I like theatre which entertains (who doesn’t?) but I APPRECIATE theatre which strives to do something different. Appreciation in this case means more than ‘like’."
"...The performances alone are worth the trek to The Kabayitos Theatre in the Lower East Side... The Spicy Witches are a group to watch; I suspect they will continue to refine this machine of fine actors and use them to their potential. I can only hope that they continue to examine how female nuance can revamp and rattle Shakespeare’s male heroes at their most vulnerable. The boy players have had their turn; let’s make room for the ladies."
However, it took a very specialized reading I saw of the show for me to discover another huge component [of Othello] I never saw before: gossip...I went to the reading in June – all female of course – and was blown away; through seeing the men’s roles played by women, I realized for the first time how much the show is about gossip and its effects on people, situations, and relationships. Othello ends up murdering his love, Desdemona, purely because of falsely-created rumors that she was cheating on him. And the most interesting thing by far is that none of the female characters really do any of the “gossiping” in the show – it’s all done by the men. Fascinating, when in life, women are usually the ones blamed for doing the most harmful gossiping.
For media inquires please contact Hannah Hammel
hannah@spicywitchproductions.com | 917.783.8945
‘The Virtuous Fall of the Girls from our Lady of Sorrows’ Delivers More Joy than Sorrow
Mary Clohan
Theater That Matters
"One of the play’s great achievements is its ability to shift from juvenile conversations about tampons or celebrity crushes to philosophical discussions about religion and human love in a way that rarely felt heavy-handed. In its well-observed depiction of teenage girls, the play conjures an association with Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves, but, in my opinion, manages to surpass Delappe’s work in terms of the pressing and poignant nature of its content...I was left, for the first time in a long time, with a joyous sense that the revolution is upon us in the form of young women."
