Yaga: Kat Sandler on the seductive power of the witch of a certain age
6 Oct 2019

by Drew Rowsome - Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann and Chris Thomaidis 

The rehabilitation of the public image of witches continues with Yaga. Or does it? Just in time for Halloween, playwright/director Kat Sandler (Bang Bang, Mustard, Late Night, Bright Lights, Liver, Cockfight, Sucker, Delicacy, Rock) throws fairy tales, horror and police procedurals into a blender and comes up with another play that is uniquely her own. And yes it is deliriously funny but manages to add some gripping action and genuinely spooky thrills in the second half.

Being wildly entertaining would be enough but Sandler is also exploring the revisionist take on witches and witchcraft, wherein the accusation and consequent burning at the stake of witches was punishment for women who were healers, loners or sexual beings. Yaga is also concerned with aging, particularly how women are rendered "invisible" after reaching a certain age. I am hoping that this concern is only because Sandler, who is still at an age to be considered a new voice, is exhausted. As the program notes, she has created and produced 16 plays in the last eight years. It is my regret that I have only seen a little over half, each has been excellent, with each one being an evolutionary, revolutionary, step forward in her mastery of the art.

The plot is convoluted and highly susceptible to spoilers, so I'll avoid any discussion other than the jumping in time and use of three actors to play multiple roles, pays off not only theatrically but also thematically. One has to pay attention but as one is sitting rapt, except for laughter, that is not a problem. Concise symbols are woven unobtrusively throughout, often paying off several scenes later with a gag or an "aha!" moment. The legend/fairy tale of Baba Yaga, the wicked and/or kindly witch in the woods, is also examined from every angle and interpretation imaginable without ever losing its folkloric power.

Podcasts, the veneration of and our fascination with serial killers, millenial coffee culture, alcoholism, academia and hipster masculinity are all skewered, often in passing, in the context of a thriller throbbing with sexuality. Seana McKenna (Lear) soars with masterful monologues in Baba Yaga's own voice, then gets down and hilariously gritty as Gina the diner proprietor. She also gets a visual gag that, even happening way backstage, reduced the audience to helpless laughter. But it is her main character, Katherine, who most impresses. Sexually lethal and happily rapacious, she fires off withering putdowns while radiating sensuality and confidence. 

I am usually loathe to use pop culture references but as Sandler lightly peppers her plays with them, I will go for it. McKenna creates an individual character but think Helen Mirren at her most earthily regal playing Bea Arthur's Dorothy in an X-Files highlight reel. McKenna is matched with a polar opposite Claire Armstrong (The Crackwalker, Liver, Rock) providing a handful of finely etched characterizations that are differentiated physically and vocally with minimal costume help. Armstrong is hilarious, daring to veer close to caricature without tipping over, and vulnerable when the character needs to be. When McKenna and Armstrong finally face off, the stage crackles with comic and dramatic virtuosity.

Of course feminist revision requires a masculine fall guy and Will Greenblatt acquits himself well. Fortunately Sandler does not paint him entirely as a villain or fool, but Greenblatt has to work hard to remain sympathetic in either of his two roles. Even with the odds stacked against him, there is empathy when he becomes a damsel in distress as the fairy tale stands on its head. Greenblatt plays jejune well, with enough charisma and sly humour to make him appealing. Of course he is also aided by the ability to not only be beguiling when clad only in underwear, but also when wearing a Pokemon toque. That is a rare talent. 

McKenna's smouldering sexuality and crack timing with one-liners, make Yaga click, but it is the taut thriller structure and solid support that lets her fly. The character of Katherine may be a mouthpiece for an agenda but Yaga is so entertaining, and the audience is so involved with solving the whodunnit, that Sandler has the last laugh. Bewitching.