'Gunter' was one of the most critically-acclaimed hits of last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival and now the play is being staged at London's Royal Court Theatre for a limited 3 week run from today, 3rd April until 25th April. Unsurprisingly, given its huge success, winning both The Scotsman Fringe First Award and Playbill’s Pick of the Fringe, tickets are sold out.
It stars Norah Lopez-Holden as Anne Gunter, a 19 year-old accused of witchcraft during the 17th century witch trials, in the reign of James I. The play is based on a true, but forgotten story, about Anne's father Brian, the richest man in a small Oxfordshire village, who murders two brothers at a football game. He forces Anne to act possessed, telling villagers that Elizabeth, the mother of one of the murdered boys, has put a spell on her.
As with the Edinburgh run, reviewers are full of praise for the Royal Court production and in particular Norah's performance.
★★★★★ "Visceral and bewitching....The cast of three multi-talented actors are exceptional....All three have such a great power in physicality and you can’t emphasise watching Lopez Holden writhe on the floor as they are filled with demonic possession" - The Recs
★★★★★ "Particularly noteworthy is Norah Lopez Holden’s portrayal of the feverish Anne Gunter, delivering a performance that is both chillingly convincing and profoundly vulnerable." - The Reviews Hub
★★★★ "Norah Lopez Holden is impressively focused as Anne, switching mercurially from traumatised exhaustion to primal-screaming savagery and thrashing fits. - The Stage
The play is produced by Dirty Hare who The Stage named one of their Top Breakthrough Theatre Makers of 2023.
Tickets are sold out but find out more about the play here.
Norah Lopez-Holden is available for voiceovers from Anthea Represents. Click her image for her profile page and voiceover showreel.
