Henri Fuseli, The Three Witches (1783).
Witches Vanish
"Inspired by history and legend, Barnett's stunning script conjures the stories of real women and girls gone missing from all over the world, witnessed by the three witches from Macbeth. … The voices of lost women and girls everywhere have migrated into the light through Barnett's beautiful words."
—Patti Restivo, Baltimore Sun
“Barnett’s work is striking and raw … flooded with imagery both beautiful and haunting, grotesque and serene. … A stellar and inspiring new piece of theatre with cultural and gender relevance is being unveiled at Venus Theatre, and this is the moment to take the opportunity to come and see it."
—Amanda N. Gunther, TheatreBloom
"Witches Vanish is not a biography of a few missing women. It is not a sentimental call to action against the global phenomenon of missing and displaced persons. Rather, it is a meditation on the idea of disappearance itself. What does it mean for a woman to “vanish” in body or soul?”
—Michael Poandl, DC Metro Theater Arts
Tara Cariaso in the Venus Theatre production of Witches Vanish. Photo by Curtis Jordan.
Synopsis. In a series of stylized, highly visual vignettes employing puppetry, poetry, and surrealism, the weïrd sisters from Macbeth explore the stories of women who disappear, whether by choice or force. Inspired by history, astronomy, and Shakespeare, Witches Vanish examines the nature of change and the value of human life. 3W. (flexible cast)
Witches Vanish was developed through the Downstage Left development program at Stage Left Theatre, Chicago, and had a workshop production as part of LeapFest 9: A Downstage Left Festival of New Plays, May 15-June 3, 2012. Scott Bishop directed.
The cast of the MultiStages New Works Finalist Festival reading.
Witches Vanish was a finalist in the MultiStages 2013 New Works Contest and had a staged reading in the MultiStages New Works Finalist Festival in New York on January 20, 2014. Melissa Maxwell directed.
Mary Burke-Hueffmeier, Amy Rhodes, Ann Fraistat, and Deborah Randall in Venus Theatre's reading of Witches Vanish at the Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage New Play Festival. Adam S. Lowe Photography,
Witches Vanish had a staged reading at 8th Annual Women’s Work Festival in St John’s, Newfoundland on March 4, 2014. Mary Vingoe directed.
Witches Vanish had a PlayLab reading at the 9th Annual Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 26, 2014. Julia Hinson directed.
Leticia Monet and Jennifer Berry in the Venus Theatre production of Witches Vanish. Photo by Curtis Jordan.
Venus Theatre presented a staged reading of Witches Vanish at the 13th annual Page to Stage New Play Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on September 1, 2014. Deborah Randall directed.
Witches Vanish premiered at Venus Theatre in Laurel, Maryland as part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival: August 20-September 20, 2015. Deborah Randall directed, with masks by Tara Cariaso.
Witches Vanish was included in Borderlands of History: Gender, Violence, Memory, A Staged Reading Series, at the University of Pittsburgh, on March 18, 2016. Shelby Brewster directed.
Witches Vanish is published by Carnegie Mellon University Press.