Vinegar Tom (play)
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Vinegar Tom is the title of a 1976 feminist play by British playwright Caryl Churchill. The play examines gender and power relationships through the lens of 17th centurywitchcraft trials in England. It tells its story in part through features of the epic theater associated with German playwright [[Bertolt Brecht], particularly the non-realistic use of songs. The play's title comes from the name of a grotesque creature supposed to be a witch's familiar spirit.
'Vinegar Tom' by Carol Churchill in 1976, follows the story of a girl/prostitute in her twenties in a small village. The plot includes much witchcraft, some slating of the Christian faith at that time, and the clear discrimination of women. It was written at the height of the second feminist movement in the 20th Century. Churchill, a highly influential feminist writer shows just how much control men have over society, how women have only ever been classed as good for producing children in the past. The play also personifies 'man' (in general) as the devil. Quite a clear example of this is the third line of the play; "I'm the devil." - Man. All the songs are set in present day, and all reflect in one way or another, the discrimination of women/men's control of society. Betty, one of the plays characters is classed as mad or ill purely because she does not want to marry. The play also outlines societies rejection of people with differences and how men shape what a woman is, and how it all still goes on today.
[edit] Background Information
Vinegar Tom was written by British playwright Caryl Churchill in 1976. Churchill collaborated with the theatre company 'The Monster's Regiment', which particularly focused on shows concerning pressing women's issues, to write Vinegar Tom. This was Ms. Churchill’s first collaborative process and the second for Monstrous Regiment. Caryl Churchill and members from the Monstrous Regiment met haphazardly at an abortion march and quickly discovered that they were both interested in putting on a production about witches, and especially the harsh measures that were followed if a woman was discovered to be a so-called 'witch'. These punishments were explored in depth by Churchill in her play; Vinegar Tom. The group worked closely for several months on the development of Vinegar Tom. On October 12, 1976, Vinegar Tom was presented for the first time at the Humberside Theatre in England. The original cast included:
- Joan: Mary McCusker
- Susan: Sue Todd
- Alice: Gillian Hanna
- Goody: Helen Glavin
- Betty: Josefina Cupido
- Margery: Linda Broughton
- Ellen "cunning woman": Chris Bowler
- Jack: Ian Blower
- Man, Doctor, Bellringer, Packer: Roger Allam
- Kramer and Sprenger: Chris Bowler, Mary McCusker
'Vinegar Tom' has many references to the way men treated women, for example the opening of the play shows a Woman named Alice who is in her early 20s and a Man who is unnamed. The man uses Alice for sex, Caryl Churchill tells the audience that women where seen as objects, she strongly disagreed.
