Julia Weber
Staff Writer
At 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today in Bratton Theater, Chautauqua Theater Company continues its production of The Witnesses, which made its world premiere Wednesday on the Bratton stage. The play, written by C.A. Johnson, was commissioned by Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll in 2023 and came to the Institution last year as a New Play Workshop titled Tell Me You’re Dying.
Fig Chilcott, guest actor in CTC’s third and final mainstage production of the 2025 season, plays the role of Emmanuelle in The Witnesses. For Chilcott, the production of the play has been a rewarding and engaging experience.
“The way that we have pulled apart this world and these characters has been really, really special to be a part of,” Chilcott said.
She added that the creative process of bringing the play to life has been “wonderfully fulfilling” and said it has been exciting to watch the play continue to grow, evolve and flourish throughout the technical process.
At first, Chilcott said she didn’t realize how many similarities existed between herself and her character, Emmanuelle. As she familiarized herself with the role, however, the connections began to emerge.
“I didn’t realize that I had so much in common with a woman from Yorkshire during a zombie apocalypse, but it turns out we have quite a bit in common,” Chilcott said.
For her, the character she plays is authentic and unfiltered, unburdened by the limited time she has left to live her life.
“Emmanuelle is connectable and universal in the way that she is pure need. She doesn’t filter herself in the way that most people do,” Chilcott said. “She doesn’t smooth edges, she doesn’t sugarcoat (that) she is dying. All that’s left now is her honesty.”
Chilcott said she has enjoyed the process of finding who her character is because it has allowed her to dive into the most fundamental truths of living.
“It’s been very fun for me, Fig, to take off all the pleasantries that I use and to get down to what’s true and what’s immediate and what’s necessary for survival — finding the joy,” she said. “One doesn’t make it through hard times unless they are finding the joy and what works and how to keep going — the hope.”
Ahead of the play, Chilcott said Chautauquans might be surprised by how closely they relate to The Witnesses. She referenced the shared cultural experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic and said that our familiarity with the experience of living through once-in-a-generation events might inform audiences’ connections with the play.
“I think that this play is going to be incredibly relatable, and there’s all sorts of pandemics that we face in life, and this is a literal one, but I think it’s incredibly relatable,” she said.
