FringeReview Scotland 2026
The Seven Witches of Torryburn
Headless Acting
Genre: Fringe Theatre, New Writing
Venue: The Cottier Theatre, Glasgow
Festival: FringeReview Scotland
Low Down
Based on real people within Fife, The Seven Witches of Torryburn attempts to tell their stories which are partly imagined due to historical records not being available. From being accused by a finger being pointed at them, this play with music manages to bring to the fore stories of the time. The seven stories are housed within a conceit of a local minister trying to rid his parish of all evil, especially the female kind.
Review
Headless Acting is a relatively new company, based in Fife and they have taken the brave decision to tour their second production around Scotland. A young company, with some old heads involved, it is testimony to the obsession we have in Scotland in righting the wrongs of our ancestors with regards to more than 3,000 accused people from the past, that this show is so popular.
As writer, Brandon Ferguson, has researched the stories which are personal and real to hm and the cast as he was but a young lad when in the 1970s there was the discovery of a headstone in the bay of Torryburn of Lilias Adie, the only known grave of an accused woman in Scotland.
Coupling his writing duties with directing, Ferguson corals a cast of eleven onstage, with a further eight credited as voice cast. Ferguson uses a mainly linear narrative, which starts with a daughter and mother worrying about whether the local parish minister is going to come after them and accuse them of witchcraft. Of course, it doesn’t take long for that prophecy to come to fruition.
The strongest elements of the structure are when Ferguson, who also plays the minister, is giving oration from a pulpit above the cast and when we have a voiceover in the second half giving instructions to the minister of how to seek out and deal with the witches. Both of those give context which would have been stronger as a beginning, establishing matters far more effectively than the poetic start we got. Nice though the poetry is, it got lost within the venue.
It was also a struggle to hear much of the dialogue meaning that some near the back of the venue did not return for the second half.
That was unfortunate because the second half had a much stronger feel than the first. This is perhaps because by that point voices were warm and more likely to carry within the Theatre. The Cottier is, however, a former church and with acoustics that work particularly well.
It was not helped by too many scenes with gaps and technical struggles which included chairs being brought on in the dark, then half-light, followed by in full light – there seemed little reason as to why they should not just have been left on throughout – there was no stage scenery.
Actors also need to find their light when doing monologues, that are at times quite short, followed by scene changes that were comparable in length or longer. Actors varied in their approach, and some found the venue difficult, often forgetting that if they spoke when the audience could not see them, they were unlikely to hear them.
Technically some of the voice overs were either under rehearsed or suffered from being technically behind the beat. The one rich velvety voice which instructed our minister stood out. Each voice over was clear and loud, making the volume onstage obviously more difficult to adjust to when it took over.
Also having amplified music and singers without mics makes it so hard for your singers. Some rose to the challenge, others were lost to us. Again noticeable that the second half had better depth to the voice.
It felt like a show that’s got a very decent hour in it. The bravery in taking this on the road needs some thought as different venues bring different challenges. The Cottier is spookily the right venue, having been a Kirk, and much was framed in redolence.
The Seven Witches of Torryburn needs a few tweaks here and some consideration there. Given the admirable number of people involved in this, having a writer who directs and also appears in it is three technically challenging roles that people with great experience would balk at considering. This time round I would strongly suggest that writer, director and actor go and have a wee sit down and a chat over a coffee to decide which strength is the one that they have the most aptitude in and start from that point forward for their next production.
