Amaryllis & Little Witch

In this small, 122 page, book, there are actually two plays by Pascal Brullemans, a Quebec playwright, (translated by Alexis Diamond). The common thread, running through both plays is death within the family. In Amaryllis, it’s the death of a nine-year-old girl, the female protagonist’s older sister, and in Little Witch, it’s the death of the female protagonist’s mother.

What makes these plays unique is not that they deal with such serious subject matter and the struggles that come with it, but it’s the way the author presents the subject matter with a quirky humour in the context of traditional fairy tales within a contemporary world, thus melding the heroine’s journey of the young female protagonists with the universal reality of death, poverty, and divorce that are part of the lives of everyday modern families.

In the first play, Amaryllis, the younger sister is overshadowed by the death of Fey, her nine- year-old sister, and is led to feel as if no one cares what happens to her. Her grieving parents have split apart and, consumed by their own emotions, they fill their lives with meaningless jobs and self-protective distancing. Amaryllis accepts a quest, to free her sister, Fey, from the ‘between’ world, and to help her to move on, once and for all, to the realm of the Dead.

In the second play, Little Witch and her mother, Big Witch, leave the city when Big Witch discovers she is ill and cannot afford treatment. Trying to cure herself with different types of home brewed remedies, Big Witch dies and leaves Little Witch in the care of the Ogre. While in the Ogre’s care, Little Witch is faced with a difficult dilemma – she must sacrifice something she loves in order to save the life of a boy that the Ogre has sworn to kill. Little Witch’s choice is difficult and forces her to make a decision that will leave her suffering a hard loss no matter what she does.

At first, the reader might question the slackness of the tone and the sharpness of the wit within these two plays but the dialogue, smart and reflective, will resonate with the audience who watch and listen to the characters as they work through the dynamics of their personal struggles and dilemmas.

A question will probably come to mind – who is the intended audience for these two plays? And who might the actors be? These plays are certainly not for young children, even though they are written in a fairy tale style. They are dark and emotional with a keen sense of wit that requires a more developed mind than a young child possesses. The deaths and some of the context around them are deeply disturbing, and, if exploring these plays with young adults, it might be beneficial to have a pre-viewing or post-viewing discussion, or both.

This reader has only seen these plays, (online viewing) performed by adults, playing for a mixed audience. Could this play be acted out by young adults for a young adult audience? That is a good question. Is this material suitable for a school setting? A high school drama class? Perhaps the most appropriate answer here might be, from a teaching perspective, to read and discuss these plays with a high school drama class, analyze and play out some of the more disturbing scenes, and then, come to a decision together as to whether these plays would suit the intent of the group if the plays were staged.

Amaryllis and Little Witch are well-written fairy tale plays, steeped in dilemmas that challenge societal norms, economic situations, and human responses to issues, such as death, through the emotional, mental, and physical journeys of the characters.