Goody - The Witch of Eastham Playbill

A reading of a play by Margaret Van Sant
Music by Clyde Shelby Mellert
Directed by John Shuman
Dramaturge: Marjorie Duffield

Cast

Missy Potash - Goody Hallett 
Lynda Sturner - Mary Hallett, Goody’s Mother 
Clyde Shelby - John Hallett, Goody’s father 
Jadah Carroll - Martha Hallett, Goody’s aunt 
Wil Moser - Sam Bellamy, sea captain
Glenn Starner-Tate - Cotton Mather & Constable Smith
Sean Flyr - Jediah Willard  
PaulE. Halley - Caleb Snow 
Bill Salem - Bosun Paine
Patrick Riviere - Responder Williams 
Jane MacDonald - Prissy

Production Team

Will Oxtoby - Stage Manager / House Manager
Margaret Van Sant - Producing Artistic Director / O’Neill Festival of New Work & Provincetown Dramatic Arts
Donna Rockwell - Graphic Design
Bill Evaul - Eugene O’Neill Graphic
Terry Catalano / Fli-bois Delivery Service - Poster/Postcard Distribution

Before We Begin…

Goody - The Witch of Eastham is approximately 2 hours in duration. 
There will be one, ten-minute intermission.
Please silence personal devices before the show begins.
No recording of any kind is permitted during the show.

Special Thanks…

• Mary Abt for her musical assistance

• Mailspot Express

  Notes from the Dramaturge…

Margaret Van Sant’s redemptive new play poses a fresh understanding and final chapter for Maria Hallett and sailor Sam Bellamy, who met in Eastham in 1715. Often referred to more sensationally as “The Witch of Wellfleet” and pirate captain “Black Sam” Bellamy, their lives got a fresh look with the discovery of Bellamy’s ship, The Whydah, off the coast of Cape Cod in 1984. This play, set in the dangerously vindictive and puritanical world of Cotton Mather and his ilk, imagines Maria’s family as wise survivors of Salem who left for the Cape to avoid persecution and prosecution. Van Sant’s retelling explores a world where young and forthright Maria Hallett is not necessarily destined to be abandoned by her love, go mad, wander the shores, and die alone – as the tale goes. That is a tired old trope that cries out for reinvention – in this play, Van Sant answers the call.

– Marjorie Duffield

 Bios…

Marjorie Duffield

Marjorie Duffield (Dramaturge)
Marjorie Duffield is a lyricist and playwright. She wrote lyrics for the 2020 Netflix Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated Over The Moon, an animated feature-length musical directed by Oscar-winning animation legend Glen Keane. Off-Broadway, The Melting Pot Theatre Company produced her play Ice Island: The Wait for Shackleton. Other credits includeIn a Lake of Fire (Winner, Moss Hart Award, Finalist, Richard Rodgers Awards), Sit-In At the Five & Dime, Someday, and Viral. She is a graduate of Williams College and NYU/Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and a proud member of ASCAP, the Dramatists Guild, and the Honor Roll! Marjorie was a recipient of the Dramatist Guild’s Jonathan Larson Memorial Musical Theatre. marjorieduffield.com.

Sean Flyr

Sean Flyr (Jediah Willard)
Sean Flyr made his stage debut in Angels in America at Provincetown Theater in May of 2024, and is studying acting with The Barrow Group of New York. He is excited to be part of this cast, and to help bring this play to the stage. In his spare time Sean enjoys time at the beach, walks with friends, and the beauty of  Cape Cod. He is grateful for the love and support of his family and dear friends here on the Cape.

Jane E. Macdonald

Jane E. Macdonald (Prissy)
Jane was one of thousands of fortunate Rhode Island students who experienced Adrian Hall's "Project Discovery" plays, and was thrilled to later appear in several Trinity Square Repertory productions. Additional venue locales include Off B'way, LA, various Reps, and several Cape Cod theatres, including the Provincetown Theatre, where she served on the Board of Directors. She also acknowledges having appeared in several peculiar sites as a puppeteer and member of Edward Gorey's Aubergine Company. (Floreat Batfrog!) At the Fountain Theater, she was the founding General Manager for the Deaf West Theatre Company and won the LA WEEKLY "Producer of the Year" Award for their 25th Anniversary production of Mart Crowley's "The Boys in the Band." She is delighted to be included in another of Ms. VanSant's acclaimed Provincetown Dramatic Arts Company productions.

Clyde Shelby Mellert

Clyde Shelby Mellert (Music / John)
Clyde has been performing most of his life. Early shows include Brigadoon, Carousel, Guys And Dolls, Gypsy with Joanne Worley, and Bye Bye Birdie with Gene Barry and Totie Fields. After moving to NYC was cast in The Fantasticks, which ran in Tampa, Florida for 200 performances. Returning to NYC he concentrated on songwriting and performed at downtown clubs like The Bitter End, and The Bottom Line. He recorded his songs, “Open Up Your Heart, America, You Are My Good Companion and Joanna, which was later released by Cool and the Gang. Since moving to the Cape he has appeared with the Provincetown Theater in Cabaret, Bat Boy, Edward II, Working, Oliver, The Dresser and Eugene O’Neill’s The Sniper. He has Written a song for Arther Egeli’s movie “Art Thief” called “ Indescretions,” which has been released on Spotify, YouTube and most other platforms. Please give it a listen and share if you like it.

Wil Moser (Avery, White Gays; Sam Bellamy, Goody)
Wil is a Brooklyn-based actor, Cape Cod local, and [LOCATION REDACTED] [NOUN REDACTED] [HUMOR ARTICULATED]. Awards include: IRNE Award for reprising his title role in The Little Prince at New Repertory Theatre; 2018 Cape Cod Rising Star. Film credits include: Tommy: The Documentary; Sucking Wind; Teacher of the Year. Education: The Hartt School (Actor Training); Recent theatre credits include: Little Devils (Max, JT) with the Helltown Players; Next to Normal (Gabe) at ETC; Tommy (Tommy) at CCftA. Wil has been acting on the east coast for more than a decade, is a self-proclaimed “cool dude,” and is forever grateful for his loving parents, incredible friends, and, of course, the Helltown Players. wilmoser.com

Will Oxtoby

Will Oxtoby (Narrator)
Will continues his role as stage manager from last year's O'Neill Festival, overseeing the setups for the readings. He was recently involved as part of the cast and crew in the Peregrine Theatre's production of HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH. Will's past work includes collaborations with actors from this year's festival in shows at the Provincetown Theater and the Academy Playhouse, developing a broad skill set in roles ranging from ensemble player to stage manager.

Missy Potash

Missy Potash (Goody)
Missy Potash studied at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and The Edge Dance Studio, in LA. Since then, she has showcased her talent across various mediums, including film and radio. Some of her favorite film credits, are Angie in “Unicorn City,” the title character in “An Evening with My Comatose Mother” and the short film “Pictures,” by Jumping The Green Productions, which has received over 6 million views on YouTube. And her radio show, “The Live Request Show with DJ Missy-Miss,” broke records in ratings for a consecutive 3 years. A veteran on the stage, some of her favorite roles have been: She, in “Stage Kiss,” Blanche in APA's “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Echo in “Eleemosynary” at Cotuit, Meg in “Crimes of The Heart,” Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” and Corrie Bratter in The Neil Simon Festival's production of “Barefoot in the Park.” Look for her this December in the one woman show, “Dreamsville” by Sue Lumenello, at Cotuit.

Patrick Riviere

Patrick Riviere (Oscar, White Gays; Responder Williams, Goody)
Patrick is an award-winning actor, playwright, arts administrator/educator and documentary filmmaker. Locally he has been seen in several plays presented by Truro Playwrights Collective (including White Gays); singing with Patti LuPone at Town Hall and starring in a Super Bowl commercial which ran for five years (Gold Telly Award). During his 40+ year career he has worked in NYC, Chicago and LA with over 100 starring and featured roles in theatre, film and TV. Most recently he directed and produced two award-winning short doc films: Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley and Artists at the Edge. https://www.patrickriviere.com

Bill Salem

Bill Salem (Bosun Paine)
Bill has enjoyed a long run as and actor/musician in all the cities he has lived. His Boston credits include The Huntington Theatre Company, Bay Colony Shakespeare, American Repertory Theatre at Harvard, Boston's Public Theater, Zeitgeist Stage at the Boston Center for the Arts. Since moving to the Cape nine years ago he has worked with many local companies and also performs a one-man Shakespeare program most recently at the Chapel in the Pines in Eastham.

John Shuman

John Shuman (Director, Jediah Willard)
Broadway: La Cage Aux Folles (revival). Off-Broadway: The Hot l Baltimore, Moonchildren, The Fantasticks ( revival), The Dishwashers. Regional: Guthrie Theatre, Alley Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Geva, Syracuse Stage, Portland Stage, Goodspeed Musicals, Portland Center Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre. Cape Cod: Provincetown Theatre ( Lady Hamlet), Payomet and Preservation Hall ( Underneath the Lintel), Cape Playhouse ( Hairspray, 1776 and this summer’s Waitress). John directed The Open House at Preservation Hall and several projects through his theatre courses for Open University of Wellfleet. He has taught improvisation at Wellfleet Elementary.

Glenn Starner-Tate

Glenn Starner-Tate (Cotton Mather & Constable Smith)
Glenn moved to Cape Cod in 2006 when he and Randy Starner became the Starner-Tates of Harwich. His love for theatre has found expression here on Cape Cod as musical director, accompanist, and actor in productions at Eventide Theater Company, Chatham Drama Guild, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Falmouth Theatre Guild, Provincetown Theater, and Harwich Junior Theater. Favorite productions include Cabaret, Honk, Yours Anne, You Can’t Take It with You, and Nunsense. He also wrote and performed an autobiographical solo show, My Music and Me, at Cotuit Center for the Arts Black Box in 2016 and at Chatham Drama Guild in 2017. In 2016, he was recruited and hired as Minister of Music for the Federated Church of Orleans, a position that keeps him here on Cape Cod and allows for continuing theatrical involvement. It's a pleasure to participate in this "new work" project.

Lynda Sturner

Lynda Sturner (Mary Hallett)
Lynda is a playwright, actress. Playwright: No Show Baby won 3d place in Eventide Theater’s 2023 new play contest. A Talented Woman written with Jim Dalglish was produced by Cotuit Center For The Arts. Lynda’s short plays have been produced and published in New York City, Provincetown, Tokyo, Alaska and California. She won Best Actress Award at The Dublin International Theater Festival for Super-Lubricated, a play she co-wrote and performed with Jim Dalglish. Other acting credits include, Broadway, Oliver, and many roles in Provincetown including, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The Moon-Marigolds (best actress award), The Food Chain, The Allergists Wife and The Perfect Ganesh.  Member: The Actors Studio; The Woman’s Project;  co-president The League of Professional Theater Women. Artistic Director Playwright’s Forum in NYC.

Margaret Van Sant

Margaret Van Sant (Playwright / Producing Artistic Director)
Margaret is a playwright, theater director, festival organizer, educator, and the Artistic Director of Provincetown Dramatic Arts. She is the founder of the O’Neill Festival of New Works, a program to assist Cape playwrights in refining their scripts into strong and focused scripts. Two of her scripts, Portraiture and Goody - the Witch of Eastham were finalists for the Kaplan Playwriting award. She has directed classic and contemporary theater, but has a special focus on the development of new scripts. At Long Wharf Theater she managed the Stage II program of new script development, and at the PTC she established the Playwright’s Lab and the Provincetown Playwright’s Festival. She produces the annual Women’s International Theater Festival. She has directed at Virginia Stage Company, Long Wharf Theater, Arena Stage, Yale University (National Conference on Portuguese Theater), Yale Cabaret, Berkshire Theater Festival, University of Massachusetts/ Dartmouth, City Studio Theater, and PTC. For the past five years she has taken a play by a Cape playwright to the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. Van Sant organized the Centennial Celebration of The Provincetown Players, THEN AND NOW, for the Provincetown Theater where she directed THE SNIPER by Eugene O’Neill. She is a past member of the Provincetown Theater Board and directed their Rat Pack Lounge New Year’s Gala. She is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College.

O’Neill Festival Schedule…

Sat., Oct. 5 at 2pm
”Temporary Land Masses” by Joe MacDougall

Sat., Oct. 5 at 7pm
”White Gays” by Jim Dalglish

Sun., Oct. 6 at 2pm
”Jule’s Song” by Candace Perry

Sun., Oct. 6 at 7pm
”Goody - The Witch of Eastham” by Margaret Van Sant

Sun., Oct. 13 at 2pm
”White Gays” by Jim Dalglish ”Temporary Land Masses” by Joe MacDougall

Sat., Oct. 13 at 7pm
”Temporary Land Masses” by Joe MacDougall

Mon., Oct. 14 at 2pm
”Jule’s Song” by Candace Perry

Mon., Oct. 14 at 7pm
”Goody - The Witch of Eastham” by Margaret Van Sant