The Suffield Players -- Photo Gallery/The Sugar Witch

The Sugar Witch, February, 2019

by Nathan Sanders	Costumes by Patricia McMahon
directed by Konrad Rogowski	Set design by Konrad Rogowski

In Sugar Bean, Florida, deep in the Everglades, the Sugar Witch is a medicine woman who serves the town with her mystic ways. The town was founded by the Beans generations ago. Tonight, things come to a reckoning.

Annabelle (Barbara Cortez-Grieg, left) is the last of her kind. She is caretaker to Sisser (Elizabeth C. Reynolds, right) and her younger brother Moses Bean. This day, Ruth Ann Meeks (Dorrie Mitchell, center) has come from town looking for Moses.		Moses (Danny Viets) returns from his job at the garage, bringing Sisser's favorite Little Debbie's cakes.

Ruth Ann saw Moses arrive and came back to seduce Moses. Tomorrow, she'll be baptized so this is her last chance to get wicked with him. Moses isn't interested, so Ruth Ann leaves, sulking.		Moses has brought a guest for dinner, Hank Hartley (Marx Proulx), another frequent visitor to the garage. Annabelle welcomes him and shares stories of how she came to care for Moses' family.

She even shows him her premiere exhibit: one of the area's fabled "flying cats," stuffed and mounted.		While the three of them go off on an errand, Ruth Ann comes back insisting that she knows Moses is inside and charges right by Sisser. Surprisingly, Sisser slowly stands up, takes an axe, and calmly drags it into the shack as the lights go out.

Upon their return, they are confronted by the horror of Sisser's act. They wrap the body and take it to the back swamps.		There are serious discussions about what else they will have to do.

Hank and Moses discuss their relationship seriously, but they are interrupted by Grandaddy Meeks (Eric Woodsides), demanding to know where his grandaughter is.		Meeks never did like the Beans anyway, and he threatens violence until Sisser points a gun in his face and tells him to git.

In light of this, some fateful decisions are made. It … gets really grim here. Annabelle, Moses, and Hank have Sisser wear her best outfit, and take her to the swamp to … get baptized. Yeah, … let's go with baptized.		The Sugar Witch performs her final act, and Hank and Moses destroy the family home.

Other performance photos.