Story of Canadian witch trial revealed at 50th annual Blyth Festival

The Salem witch trials ended in the 17th century after 19 executions, spawning legends and literature and hit movies. Less known is that Canada had largely forgotten witch trials of its own, and far more recently.

Gil Garratt, artistic director of the Blyth Festival in Blyth, Ont., has set out to change that.

Garratt was fascinated when he first found out about the last Canadian “witch” trials through a column written by a local historian. Maggie Pollock, who was born and raised in Blyth, became entangled in legal trouble in 1919 when she was accused of “telling fortunes.” Her conviction followed Pollock for the remainder of her life.

This year, one of the festival’s premieres, “The Trials of Maggie Pollock” centres on the story of the last woman in Canada to be convicted of “witchcraft.”

“I admit, I didn’t know that Canada had ever had a history of legal persecution of ‘witches’. To discover that it had gone on so late and that it had been right in this community that I call home (Huron County), was quite shocking.”

The plays premiering this season are chosen to provide a diverse range of experiences, with their shows including elements of comedy, murder mystery, Canadian history, and more.

“To be able to call people together and say, ‘Let’s sit in this room together,’ (and) ‘let’s share this space together’… To me, that idea has actually only become more radical,” Garratt said.

“Theatre has a property that is in shorter and shorter supply in the world we live in today, which is that it is entirely handmade. It happens bespoke in the moment in which it happens live in front of your eyes,” he said. “I think the live, immediate art is so powerful today.”

The Harvest Stage is a recent addition to the festival, offering a new venue for people to come together and engage with art and theatre. Built in 2021, this permanent, open-air amphitheatre features a thrust stage with seating on three sides, creating an intimate atmosphere beneath the open sky and ensuring full accessibility for all visitors.

In its 50-year history, the festival has hosted over a million attendees, initially drawing from Huron County and expanding to include visitors from every Canadian province and territory, across the United States, and from various countries around the world.

The accomplishments made by a number of the festivals’ premieres have gone on to be produced in 29 countries worldwide, win Governor General’s awards, and translated into different languages. 

“To me, that is a celebration not of what the festival has done, but what the festival is capable of, because of 50 years of dedicated artists, supportive donors, and an incredible audience that has just grown and grown.”