Written by
Laurie Flanigan Hegge
Directed by
Jeff Mills
Originally produced by Light the Match Productions & New Celt Productions for Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2023 (Meggie Greivell, Director)
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE
In the long arc of the Scottish Witch Trials (1563-1736) there loomed a terrible recurring character: the witch pricker. A utility player in church-run, state-sanctioned interrogations, the witch pricker would prove a woman a witch by simply finding the “Devil’s mark” on her body, often a spot which would not bleed when pricked with a sharp iron rod. (Records tell us it was always a woman subjected to pricking, never a man.) Not every accused witch in Scotland met a literal witch pricker, but every accused person certainly faced interrogation and abuse; literally or figuratively, all the accused were pricked. Sure, torture was illegal in Scotland, but in a war against the Devil, what’s a little blood in the big scheme of things?
This play was inspired by the Witches of Scotland campaign “…for justice; for a legal pardon, an apology, and a memorial for the thousands of people—mostly women—that were convicted of witchcraft and executed between 1563 and 1736 in Scotland.” Learn more about the WOS campaign, the history of the Scottish witch trials, and the campaign’s living memorial—the official Witches of Scotland tartan—at www.witchesofscotland.com, where you’ll find a library of fascinating podcasts with historians and artists.
PRICK is a play steeped in history, but it is also of our time, both figuratively and literally. See this article in The Conversation for more context about witch hunts in our modern world.
I am so grateful to director Jeff Mills and all the amazing Proboscis artists, onstage and off, who have embraced this play and Madeline Helling’s gorgeous puppets with such fierceness and vulnerability. PRICK premiered at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has since traveled to London, New Orleans, and New Zealand. It’s a special thrill to have its first professional American production in my home town, Chicago.
PLAYWRIGHT’S THANKS
IThe Playwright wishes to thank Dr. Claire Mitchell QC and Zoe Venditozzi, co-authors of “How to Kill a Witch” and co-hosts of the Witches of Scotland podcast; Judith Langlands-Scott; Shaun Wilson; Dr. Julian Goodare, Ewan McAndrew and the incredible team of Wikipedians at the University of Edinburgh’s Survey of Scottish Witchcraft ( https://witches.is.ed.ac.uk); Eric Simonson and the Door Kinetic Arts Festival; Amy Chaffee, Tulane University; Sarah Jack and Josh Hutchinson, endwitchhunts.org; and Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl, healandharrow.com. With deep gratitude to the project’s originators, director Meggie Greivell and the artists at Light the Match Productions & New Celt Productions/Edinburgh Napier University.
PRODUCTION TEAM
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
PRODUCTION MANAGER
STAGE MANAGER
PUPPET DESIGNER
LIGHTING DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGN
ASSISTNT DIRECTOR
SET DESIGN/PROPS
DIALECT COACH
MARKETING
MARKETING INTERN
PRODUCTION SUPPORT
Jeff Mills
Ashlea Woodley
Alivia Arizaga
Esau Andeleon
Madeline Helling
Piper Kirchhofer
Maddy Shows
Zoé Soteres
Henry Wilkinson
Charlotte Markle
Kimberly Logan
Lauren Williams
Bella Kelso
DIRECTOR’S SPECIAL THANKS
JEFF’S THOUGHTS GO HERE.
CAST
MARION/
ENSEMBLE
Courtney Abbott
they/she
Courtney Abbott is an associate artist with Proboscis, and a Stakeholder in the Back Room Shakespeare Project. Theatre: Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Clowns (City Lit, upcoming); Bernhardt/Hamlet (Edge of the Wood); Philoctetes (Proboscis); The Jigsaw Bride (First Folio). Film: The Elkhorn Special, Run, Maggie in Fall. Education: MFA, Ohio University; BS, Northwestern. As an Intimacy Director, collaborations include Northwestern, Roosevelt, About Face, The Gift, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Northlight, and Remy Bumppo. CourtneyAbbott.com
KING JAMES/
ENSEMBLE
Gardy Gilbert
he/him
Gardy Gilbert is excited to bring the story of “Prick” to life with Proboscis! He is a Chicago-based actor and movement artist and earned his BFA in Acting from Ball State University in Muncie, IN. Recent credits: Infinity Burns (AROT Incubator), UNTITLED (blood, marble) (Snails on a Bike), The Aliens (Kalliope & Co), and IS GOD IS (AROT). He is a company member of Proboscis. He is proudly represented by TalentxAlexander. gardygilbert.com
WILLIAM WRIGHT/
ENSEMBLE
Bryson David Hoff
he/him
Bryson is excited to make his professional return to Chicago theatre, where he was last seen in Holding the Man (Pride Arts Center). Bryson is a founding company member and associate artistic director of Scrap Paper Shakespeare of Durham, NC and has appeared in their productions of Arms and the Man, Arabella, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar. He is also a proud graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University’s MFA Acting program.
FARMER’S WIFE/
ENSEMBLE
Chloe Rodriques
she/her
Chloe Rodriques is a passionate actor and mover from the California Bay Area. She recently received her BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she performed in Hedda Gabler (Hedda), Small Mouth Sounds (Joan), and The Witch (Elizabeth Sawyer). She is deeply drawn to new works that allow her to explore and showcase her identity, such as the world premieres of two bilingual productions, Las Wavys and Go Dog Go/Ve Perro Ve, at Chicago Children’s Theatre. Chloe is also thrilled to return to the Proboscis process after previously performing as an ensemble member and swing in Infernal (directed by Charlotte Markle).
ISOBEL GOWDIE/
ENSEMBLE
Shannon Leigh Webber
she/her
Shannon Leigh Webber is thrilled to be working with Proboscis Theatre Company on this wonderful project! She last appeared in Incognito with Tin Drum Theatre at Theatre Wit. Other Chicago theatre credits include Bottle Fly & Babel at Red Twist Theatre, Harrow House with Rough House Theatre, Blue Island in the Red Sea with Collaboraction and Perfect Arrangement at Pride Arts. Outside of Chicago, Shannon has appeared at Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, AR and The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC. When Shannon is not acting, she can be found teaching Drama to 1st through 8th graders in Wilmette, learning new vegan recipes, doing yoga, tending to her many houseplants or snuggling with her pigeon, Pidgey.
JANET/
ENSEMBLE & PRODUCER
Ashlea Woodley
she/her
Ashlea Woodley is an actor, advocate, and devising artist who hails from Campbellsport, Wisconsin. Regional credits include Anne/Woman U/S in The Father at Remy Bumppo (dir. Kay Martinovich), Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with Jacaranda Collective at The Den Theater (dir. Sam Bianchini), Constantine in The Seagull at Cooperative Performance (dir. Don Russell), and Inger in Number the Stars at GreatWorks Theatre Company (dir. Matt O’Brien). She is the co-Artistic Director at Proboscis Theater. She holds her MFA from The Theatre School at DePaul. As a teaching artist, she has worked for various organizations throughout the Midwest, including First Stage in Milwaukee, where she helped design and implement curriculum for Next Steps, a program designed for children on the autism spectrum. Most recently, she worked as a curriculum consultant and developer for Chicago Children’s Theatre’s Red Kite program and as an artist advocate for Arts of Life. ashleawoodley.com.
UNDERSTUDY
Grace Sims
she/her
Grace Sims
UNDERSTUDY
Zoé Soteres
she/her
Zoé Soteres
UNDERSTUDY
Fintan Swift
he/they
Fintan Swift
PRODUCTION CREW
Jeff Mills
Director
he/him
Jeff is Co-Artistic Director of Proboscis and founded the company in 2011. With PTC he co-created many new works including the pioneering podcast Live from the Piano Kitchen (2011-2015 producer/writer/performer) Piezoelectric Love: The (half) Life of Marie Curie (2011 director, co-diviser) La La La Strada (2015 director, writer,) Strap-On (2016 director, co-divisor), The Queens of Infinite Space (2022 writer, director) Tempest (2023 director, co-deviser) and his solo show Prospero’s Black Box (2023-25) which has performed in Italy at the Verona Shakespeare Fringe Fest, Czech Republic at the Prague Shakespeare Festival, Hydrama Arts Center in Hydra Greece, the Ol’Factory Festival in Chicago, the Lit Moon World Theatre Festival in Santa Barbara and the Denver Fringe Festival. Jeff has performed nationally & internationally. He is currently on faculty at the Theatre School, Depaul University where he directed Cat in the Hat, Henry VI pt. 3, As You Like It, Hedda Gabler, A Wrinkle in Time, and Kafka’s Metamorphosis. His new play Servant of Two Master Chefs, will premiere at the Theatre School in February 2026.
Laurie Flanigan Hegge
Playwright
she/her
Laurie Flanigan Hegge is a Twin Cities playwright, lyricist, dramaturg, and actor. Her play Prick was created for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for Light the Match Productions, who subsequently took the show to the Drayton Arms in London. She calls both History Theatre in St Paul and Northern Sky Theater in Door County artistic homes. Original musicals include: Dirty Business; Sweet Land, the musical; Hormel Girls; 20 Days to Find a Wife; Tales Along the Minnesota Trail (History Theatre), and Loose Lips Sink Ships; See Jane Vote; and Boxcar (Northern Sky Theater). Her most recent commission Irvin Coulee was presented at PRIME Productions’ 2025 Prime Voices series. Upcoming: Evidence of V with composer/singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke, adapted from “Evidence of V: A Memoir in Fragments, Facts & Fiction” by Minnesota Book Award winner Sheila O’Connor. Laurie is the Twin Cities Regional Representative for the Dramatists Guild.
Alivia Arizaga
Production Manager
she/her
Alivia Arizaga is really happy to be working with Proboscis Theater Co. She is a theater manager that is fueled by a passion for creativity, storytelling, and leadership. She has recently worked on Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (First
Floor Theater), Fool For Love, Little Bear Ridge Road (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Milo Imagines the World (Chicago Children’s Theater), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Madison Ballet).
Piper Kirchhofer
Lighting Designer
she/her
Piper is a Jeff Award nominated lighting designer. Previous work includes- We Are Proud to Present… at Theatre Y, Wolves and The Great Kahn at Redtwist Theatre, Tick, Tick… BOOM! at BoHo Theatre, Beauty Queen of Leenane and Macbeth at Three Crows Theatre, Hurricane Diane at Theatre Wit, 8-Track and Once Upon a Mattress, at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. She is also an IATSE lighting technician touring with productions such as Bluey’s Big Play, the first national tour of Company, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, and The Choir of Man European tour. You can see her work currently running at Redtwist Theatre’s production of Titus Andronicus and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus. You can find more of her previous work and find more upcoming projects at piperlighting.com.
Maddy Shows
Costume Designer
she/her
Madeleine Shows is a designer and craftsperson based in Chicago. Recent credits include costume construction work on Circus Quixote and Iraq, But Funny at Lookingglass Theatre Company, assistant design on At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen at The Story and assistant design on Coronation at Refracted Theatre Company. She is a lay-medievalist and an expert in the esoteric. Hire her to design your next cult’s ceremonial robes. www.mshowsdesign.com
Charlotte Markle
Dialect Coach
she/her
Charlotte Markle
Henry Wilkinson
Set Design/Props
he/him
Henry Wilkinson is excited to be working with Proboscis Theatre again after joining them to bring their adaptation of Dante’s Inferno to life. With degrees in architecture and scenic design, he’s been designing and building shows for the past decade.
Esau Andeleon
Stage Manager
he/him
Esau Andeleon
Madeline Helling
Puppet Designer
she/her
Madeline delights in finding ways to make use of the piles of detritus collected in her basement studio and the puppets in Prick stem from just that. She is drawn to projects that shed light on truthful stories caught in the underbelly of society. In the puppet realm she’s worn many hats: maker, performer, director, puppet playwright, schlepper. Much of her work has centered around large-scale community collaborations, parades and spectacles. She is longtime Associate Artist at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre and longtime artist with BareBones Productions. Some favorite collaborations include work with the Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Migizi, Freshwater, Cleveland Museum of Art, Handspring and Ukwanda Puppet in South Africa. She lives in Minneapolis with her spouse, two young children and across the street from Laurie (the playwright). The puppets in Prick have been quite the travelers but jackdaws were created fresh for this Chicago production.
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS
This project is partially supported by a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and The Saints
CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Jeff Mills and Ashlea Woodley
BOARD MEMBERS
Arlyne Chin
Leora Krause
Jeff Mills
Kevin Wlekinski
SPECIAL THANKS
The Den Theatre
Filament Theatre
MPACCT
Greatworks Theatre