Tickets: https://capitalfringe.org/events/bell-wringer/
As our modern bard, Lin Manuel Miranda asked “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” But what if your story is interpreted eight ways to Sunday by every person who ever heard it? It’s an early 19th century game of telephone before the telephone was even invented. Everyone is certain they are right and everyone else doesn’t have the whole story. So it was with the Bell family in Red River Tennessee circa 1817.
Based upon the legend of the Bell Witch, comes a new musical comedy from Pinky Swear Productions, written by local playwrights Seth Alcorn and Karen Lange. Half O Brother, Where Art Thou, half Blair Witch, Bell Wringer re-tells an Appalachian legend about a witch who torments an eastern Tennessee town.
Between 1817 and 1821, the Bell family of Adams, Tennessee was terrorized by an invisible entity, whom they called a witch in the parlance of the time. The witch could speak and predict the future, which could have been useful but for the beatings, hair pullings, and general torture visited upon the family. She was particularly fond of troubling John (Jack), the patriarch, and the youngest daughter, Betsy. No one has ever been able to explain what happened, though numerous theories abound.
This is where our production comes in. This legend cries out to be a bluegrass song. Actually, it cries out to be many songs, both parodies and original music. We’ll invite the audience to view the legend from inside the family, through the eyes of the townsfolk, and from the perspective of the “witch” herself.
This is the second bluegrass focused show for Pinky Swear. Their 2016 Capital Fringe Festival show, Over Her Dead Body, was a runaway hit, earning both Best Musical and Best Overall Show audience awards.
Come see what we have in store for 2023. The result is a little creepy and a lot of silliness.
Tickets
WED 7/12 7:45 PM
SAT 7/15 7:00 PM
FRI 7/21 6:00 PM
SAT 7/22 8:30 PM
SUN 7/23 3:00 PM