Hartford, CT 8/3/07 - The Judy Dworin Performance Project in collaboration with the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society presents the premiere of The Witching Hour, a provocative dance/theater piece by the Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble that brings Connecticut’s 17th-century witch craze to the present through the untold stories of women who were accused, tried and convicted as witches. The Witching Hour opens on Thursday, September 27th and runs through Saturday, September 29th at 7:30 pm at the Charter Oak Cultural Center. Also on Saturday, September 29th is a reading of the award- winning novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond at The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society’s Buttolph-Williams House in Wethersfield, and a walking tour of Old Wethersfield that sets the stage for the historical context of Connecticut's witch craze.

The Witching Hour explores what happens in communities when difference becomes dangerous, and folk culture –as practiced by herbalists, midwives, women landowners, and indentured servants – clashes with Puritan hierarchical authority. Larger than life puppets, sets, and costumes by Anne Cubberly create a seamless visual landscape for the innovative blend of dance, text and music for which the Judy Dworin Performance Project is known.

The gender implications of Hartford’s witch hysteria is voiced in The Witching Hour through Wethersfield landowner and accused witch, Katherine Harrison, and is seen through the eyes of Addie Avery, a 14-year old home-schooled student and ninth-generation granddaughter of Mary Sanford who was executed as a witch in Hartford on June 13, 1662. Addie is currently pursuing the exoneration of her great grandmother – and all who were convicted as witches in 17th-century Connecticut – by the Connecticut State Legislature. She is in contact with Senator Andrew Roraback and Representative Mike Lawlor to introduce legislation in the Spring 2008 legislative session for the exoneration.

The Witching Hour will open on Thursday, September 27 and will run for three nights: September 27th, 28th and 29th at 7:30 pm at the Charter Oak Cultural Center. Ticket prices are $20, $10 for seniors and Let’s Go! Members, A&L Members, and $5 for students. To purchase tickets call the Charter Oak Cultural Center box office at (860) 249-1207. The Charter Oak Cultural Center is located at 21 Charter Oak Ave., in Hartford. For more information and directions visit their website at www.charteroakcenter.org.

Special free morning performances of The Witching Hour will be held on Thursday and Friday, September 27th and 28th for students from Kinsella Magnet School and Ramon E. Betances School. Following the performances, a discussion with Judy Dworin, artistic director, and the performers will be held and teachers will receive pre-performance study guides to share with students outlining this aspect of Connecticut’s history.

In a special related event, on Saturday, September 29th A&L’s Buttolph-Williams House will feature a day of Connecticut witchcraft history with a 1:00 pm walking tour of Old Wethersfield presented by the Wethersfield Historical Society, and a 3:00 pm presentation that includes a reading of excerpts from the Newberry Award-winning, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare, and a sneak preview of The Witching Hour.

The novel, set in the Buttolph-Williams House in Wethersfield, brings to life this period in Connecticut’s history that demonstrates the power of mob mentality and the need for communities in desperate times to find a scapegoat. The walking tour will begin at the Wethersfield Historical Society and is $6 for adults and free for children under 18. The reading of The Witch of Blackbird Pond is free and will be presented by the Judy Dworin Performance Project. The Wethersfield Historical Society is located at The Keeney Memorial Cultural Center, 200 Main St., Wethersfield.

Sponsors for The Witching Hour include: The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, The Greater Hartford Arts Council, The J. Walton Bissell Foundation, and Wolf ColorPrint.

The Judy Dworin Performance Project, Inc. (JDPP Inc.) is a company of performing artists who seek, on the stage and in the community, to innovate, inspire, educate, and collaborate as they engage in art-making rooted in the belief that the arts can be a powerful agent of change.  The organization began in 1989 as a nonprofit umbrella organization based in Hartford, Connecticut. Over the eighteen years of its history, the Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble (JDPE) has been the core member and catalyst for the organization, creating cutting-edge dance/theater performance work of the highest professional quality; initiating movement-based multi-arts residencies in schools and community institutions (Moving Matters!); and taking the lead in the mentoring and service component of the organization with (Artists Mentoring Artists) the vision of artists helping other artists in the Greater Hartford community. For more information please visit www.judydworin.org.

Founded in 1936, the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society is the largest state-wide heritage museum organization in Connecticut. A&L’s mission is to inspire appreciation for the Connecticut experience by preserving, presenting and promoting outstanding historic properties. A&L is committed to exploring new and innovative ways of interpreting Connecticut’s past through theatre, music and dance. Last year, A&L sponsored the staged reading of a new play about state heroine Prudence Crandall at the Nathan Hale Homestead, and at the Arts Academy in the Learning Corridor in Hartford. The Antiquarian & Landmarks Society owns 12 significant historic Connecticut properties, nine of which are operated as historic house museums. For more information, please visit www.ctlandmarks.org.

# # #