Vinegar Tom

Vinegar Tom, although a sometimes disjointed and eccentrically laid-out play, has a clear message with themes that resonate throughout human history and bring the past into our own time.

The show, written by Caryl Churchill, is about witch-hunting, a common occurrence in the early colonies of North America, as evidenced by historical accounts of the Salem witch trials.

A feminist group called Monstrous Regiment originally produced the play in 1976. The organization typically produced theater about women’s issues. Vinegar Tom uses a classic setting to examine gender and power roles in modern times.

The play opens with the lead character, Alice (played by Jennifer Rowe), having just finished a “roll in the hay” with an unknown man. The story springboards off this interaction as the man leaves while exclaiming the whorish qualities of Alice. This double standard that affected women so heavily during colonial times, using religion and public guilt, persists 300 years later.

One of the most famous books on witches, Malleus Maleficarum, or The Hammer of Witches, plays an important part in the play. One of the purposes of Malleus Maleficarum was to instruct witch-hunting officials on how to determine whether a person was a witch. It has theories that prove witches are women more often than men, using examples of “fact” such as women are more impressionable than men and are therefore more susceptible to the devil. Malleus Maleficarum remains one of the most blood-soaked books in human history, furthering the history of our ability to demean. It supports the patriarchal world.

Most plays have a rise in action, a climax and a resolution. In Vinegar Tom, director Devon Allen chose to have a very disjointed, sometimes rattling narrative. Lighting was used to separate different slices of reality in the story, a different technique from most shows, but in the case of Vinegar Tom, a workable solution.

The play also uses songs to segue into different scenes that continue with the same tone. One song speaks exactly to our time, describing gays and blacks as being the “scapegoats” or witches of our century. Valery Saul composed the music with lyrics coming from Churchill as well as Allen.

One notable performance comes from Rowe, who does an excellent job with her character, clearly understanding her purpose within the play. Rebekkah Rasmussen also does an effective job as Susan, Alice’s good friend. The two play well off of each other and have good on-stage chemistry. Eleveld and Rollie Walsh also have a very entertaining scene at the end of the show where they play the writers of Malleus Maleficarum, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger.

Overall, Allen does a very nice job preparing and placing her actors. The cast has a complete understanding of their characters’ wants, needs and interactions with one another. Vinegar Tom is a worthy effort.

Portland State theater arts department spring show Vinegar Tom is now showing for the next two weekends on the main stage of Lincoln Hall.