The Witches of Kaman

***The Witches of Kaman*** is a comedy play written by the Sevician playwright Jane of Hearts. It was first performed at the Rose Petal Amphitheatre on the 1st of Saturna I, the first day of the Reaping, 651 A.S, to critical acclaim. An example of the influential New Comedia style of theatre, it is widely regarded as one of the finest comedy plays in Sevician history.

## Plot

*The Witches of Kaman* tells the story of three sister witches - Thidi, Wyn, and Freda - who live atop a mountain just outside the fictional town of Kaman. The location of Kaman is never accurately given, though a line in the second act of the play alludes to it being within "lofty stone's throw's range of yon capital," pointing to it being set somewhere in the Sevician Easterlands.

As the play opens, the witches on the mountaintop lament the poor weather and the mood and curse the gods in the heavens above them. Each of the three witches has an affliction that seriously ails them: Thidi is blind in one eye and cannot see more than a few feet, Wyn has no nose and cannot smell at all, and Freda is stricken with pus-filled boils on her face and arms that leave her "wickedly, deeply unpleasant" to look at. Meanwhile in the local town of Kaman, a council meeting is called up by the governor, a man called Evin, after locals begin talking about seeing witches on the mountaintop.

The first two acts of the play take place in and around Kaman, with back and forth scenes interplayed between the witches and the townsfolk - which include a number of councillors and neighbourhood leaders, such as Sari, a loud and bold woman who speaks with a slur, Roman, a village elder known for his arrogance, and Bern, a halfwit. The witches come down to the town on multiple occasions to converse with the members of the town, who scorn them at every opportunity in comic scenes filled with bawdy jokes and insults about the witches' appearances, ailments, and history.

The witches argue that they should be allowed to live on the mountaintop in peace for they are causing no harm to anyone, to which a number of the townspeople, including Evin and Roman, retort with more insults. A comic interlude occurs with Bern stumbling his way through a confusing, often-nonsensical monologue about the witches and the city of "Nakam," before shuffling out of scene. The play's dialogue relies more heavily than many of Jane of Hearts' other work on rude jokes and back-and-forth retorts in the scenes between the witches and the townsfolk, which in the beginning of the third act - after a monologue interlude by Thidi, the blind witch - devolves into a mud-slinging contest.

In a favourite scene of many audiences, the townsfolk argue together over what should be done about the witches, who are seen to be blaspheming the Old Gods with their appearance and thus bringing a curse upon the town. The council is woven with the comic juxtaposition of language and topic, with the participating members each demeaning the witches while simultaneously, and unintentionally, praising them. An example is when Roman, the elder of the town, bemoans Freda's horrific physical appearance, which he claims is ghastly enough to "scare away the rabid dogs," not realising that this is a net positive on the town. Similarly unintentional appraisals are played for comedic effect, with the council eventually deciding to rid the town of the witches by pestering them. Bern the halfwit volunteers, but is immediately shot down on account of his condition.

In three separate scenes interwoven by monologues by the three witches, the leading townspeople take turns sabotaging their mountaintop home. First, Evin sneaks up to the mountaintop and snuffs out their campfire. Though Thidi is sat near the campfire as Evin puts it out, the blindness in her eye means that she misses him entirely. Then, later in the same day, Sari sneaks up and steals their food, which includes a pot of fresh stew. This time, Wyn is in the witches' camp, though since she has no nose and cannot smell, this too goes unnoticed. Finally, late that night, Roman ascends to the mountaintop with the intention of stealing their fresh water supply. He is stopped by a wild boar that almost attacks him but, at the horrific appearance of Freda's sleeping form, runs away, allowing Roman to take the flagons of water.

The next day, in the play's most famous scene, Freda delivers a monologue to the audience where she laments her affliction and the afflictions of her sisters and curses the goddess Sora for making them. She calls on Sora to deliver retribution for their blasphemy, which never comes. Finally, she weeps for the townsfolk, who she believes are so blinded by their hatred for the witches that they cannot see it will destroy them. In the next scene the following night, while the witches sleep, Bern - eager to prove himself to the council - sneaks up the hill and attempts to tear down their tents. In the process he accidentally stumbles over the campfire, which catches on the tents and sets the entire mountaintop ablaze. Bern escapes, while the witches burn to death.

The scene is played to the audience for comic effect, with the witches arguing over who should get the last bucket of water to put it out, all while the fire rages on. The next day, the goddess Sora finally places a curse on the witches by delivering a violent gust of wind to the mountaintop. The fire, which is still raging, is carried down to the town of Kaman and sets it on fire. In a parallel to the previous scene with the witches, Evin and the townsfolk argue back and forth while attempting to put it out, to no avail.

The play ends with the remaining townspeople, including the council leaders, sat amid the ruins of Kaman, now overrun with wild dogs and flies. In the play's closing monologue, Evin bemoans the fate of the town, which he claims is a result of the three witches, but celebrates their passing by suggesting that Kaman can now finally begin to rebuild.

## Critical analysis

### Politics

The play is heavily layered with Sevician political themes that are woven throughout the text. Playwright and critic Calas Bride believed the play to be an allegory for the treatment of the native Itrusic and Jastian people of the northern regions of Sevicia, while others believed the witches to be a stand-in either for women in Sevician society, or for foreign-born inhabitants, such as those from Manos or Duscador, and their place in modern Sevicia.

### Structure

Like many New Comedia plays, *Witches* features a strange, seemingly uncoordinated structure. Unlike most older Sevician comedies it omits the use of the chorus - a key element of both comedy and tragedy - in favour of a more direct, single-figure approach. The play is littered with monologues both to the audience and internally, and much of it (including the most famous scene: Freda's final monologue) are written in poetic blank verse. It makes heavy use of poetry and metre in place of physical comedy, excluding the use of comic masks or absurd costumes even when they would be appropriate (such as for Freda's skin disease). Instead, Jane uses clever dialogue and heavy reference to Sevician culture to prime and then inform the audience of their context within the play.

Structurally, the second and third acts are the longest, with the first act serving almost as an introduction and the final act almost as an epilogue. This was common practice in much of New Comedia, which almost always omitted classic structural scenes such as the prologue and epilogue, the chorus, and choral interludes. The play also contains no interlude and runs for approximately 140 minutes, making it among the longest of Jane of Hearts' works, but not quite the longest.

## References to the play

* In the playwright Iophanus' final play, *A Man Came From Ida,* a reference to the play is made, where a travelling salesman claims he has come from "the great city of Kaman."
* Similarly, in the play *70,* by legendary playwright Porsa, the main protagonist - an old, perverted man attempting to relieve his youth - makes a passing reference when he drunkenly exclaims he is on the way to see "three fine ladies there 'pon mountaintop."
* A street in the Saltown district of Morosea is called Kaman, after the fictional city in the play.
* In *The Coin Master's Daughter,* Sarsia Engarden remarks that her mother took her to see a showing of the play when she was younger, and it instantly became her favourite comedy.

## See also

New Comedia

Jane of Hearts

Calas Bride