ArtsGroupie CIC make something of a speciality out of using theatre to give history a contemporary twist and, in The Hammer and Helena, they turn their time-machine to a randomizer setting to reinterpret one of history’s most controversial and notorious pieces of literary inspiration.
In 15th century Austria, a group of women found themselves on trial for witchcraft, and among the inquisitors was the self-proclaimed ‘Hammer of Witches’ Heinrich Kramer. One of the women, Helena Scheuberin, was particularly outspoken and called out Kramer’s questionable tactics and motives.
This, and Helena’s acquittal led the already unhinged Kramer to become obsessed, and he was subsequently dismissed and banished by the bishops. His response was to write his infamous book ‘Malleus Maleficarum’, a handbook for identifying and punishing witches which, thanks to Guttenberg’s shiny new printing press, went on to become a sensational and influential piece of writing – for all the wrong reasons.
There are two key drivers for David Griffith’s play ‘The Hammer and Helena’, the first being Kramer’s deep-seated obsession with sex and lust, and the way in which a patriarchal society tolerated his misogynist ideas for too long under the guise of religious rectitude. Alongside this comes Scheuberin’s determination to call him out and make a stand for womankind.
Samantha Alton and John Maguire play Helena Scheuberin and Heinrich Kramer, but their characters are wrapped in layers of metatheatre.
In fact, with the performers on stage as the audience enter the space, it rapidly becomes difficult to determine where the meta ends and the theatre begins. As the work progresses we see that the bickering that appears to precede the performance hints at the gender power-play still happening in theatres today, and is rooted in the same sexual politics that pervades so many areas of modern life. Played out in the manner of a lecture which turns into a dramatised piece of storytelling, Griffiths (who directs his own work here) treats the story like the subject of a game of pass the parcel, but one in which some players subvert the process by re-wrapping it.
We are pulled back and forth between the 15th and 21st centuries, as parallels are drawn between the two periods. Society is surrounded by witch-hunts and, although the printing press has been supplanted with more modern communication technologies, the way in which misinformation and demonization spread is just as toxic. The Hammer and Helena seeks to both tell a historical tale and right a wrong, by bringing Sheuberin’s story – long since reduced to a footnote in that of Kramer – to the fore, but it also casts a light on contemporary attitudes, and the rise of ‘anti-woke’ bigotry.
The play is presented at Shakespeare North Playhouse in two days of previews, in readiness for its transfer to Edinburgh Fringe next month. It is by its very nature a piece that has a raw edge to it, and is designed to appear at times as though almost improvised. The danger with this is that some of these raw edges may be mistaken for lack of preparedness, and fine tuning through these previews will no doubt find the right point of balance.
The ‘meta’ spoken of earlier gradually gives way to a more fully dramatised approach as the work progresses. After a powerful piece of direct address from the contemporary guise of the perfomers, it seeps back into its historical context for a conclusion that turns the tables on the Hammer. This is an excoriating tale of an incendiary career that should ignite some discussion.
The Hammer and Helena will appear at theSpace on the Mile from 18th to 23rd August as part of Edinburgh Fringe, and ArtGroupie accompany this with their hugely popular Ghost Stories by Candlelight at Venue 45.
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| Samantha Alton and John Maguire in The Hammer and Helena - Picture by Andrew AB Photography |
Star rating: Four Stars
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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