The Spider Witches of Appalachia
★★★☆☆ Well spun
PBH’s Free Fringe @ The Outhouse Bar (Venue 99): Sat 8 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
The title of The Spider Witches of Appalachia (at the Outhouse as part of the Free Fringe) might sound like a B-movie, but instead conceals a low-key but assured storytelling performance by Jenna Baer, who has devised, written and performed the piece.
The ‘spider witches’ of the title are Baer’s ancestors, five generations of wise women from the eastern USA (and in this case, specifically Kentucky). In Baer’s telling, they could harness healing plants and apparently read spiders’ webs.
Jenna Baer. Pic: Selina Graham.
The narrative describes people who, post-Industrial Revolution, remained suspicious of authority, formal education or conventional medicine. They lived in the ‘in-between’ places that were not either in the mountains or on the plains, but were handy for the mines and the barges that transported the coal.
Similarly, the stories tell of the ‘in between’; supernatural to a greater or lesser extent, these are not full-blown ghost stories, but are atmospheric and eerie. Apparently it’s not considered safe to go out in Appalachia after dark, and that feeling suffuses the performance. There’s a warning about dandelion roots, the meaning of the call of the whippoorwill, and family relationships both loving and more starchily forbidding.
It’s all done in a relaxed and inviting way, with a creditable variation in tone and speed. The connection with the audience is simple and unforced, with personal asides thrown in.
captivating
While it’s largely a captivating performance, it does tend to meander at times, there’s the odd less secure moment, and it can be on the quiet side – things that an outside eye would more easily have spotted. Although billed as a combination of theatre and storytelling, it doesn’t rely on very much in the way of theatrical device.
Which is not necessarily any kind of drawback. There should always be a place for straightforward storytelling on the Fringe, especially when it is done in an honest and appealing way. A couple of times, Baer cuts short an aside with ‘that’s a story for another Fringe’ – something that could be anticipated with pleasure.
Running time: 55 minutes (no interval).
PBH’s Free Fringe at the Outhouse Bar (The Loft), 12a Broughton St Lane, EH1 3LY. (Venue 99).
Saturday 8 – Sunday 30 August 2026.
Daily (not Mons): 3.45pm.
Details: Details on EdFringe.com.
Non-ticketed: Details here.
Jenna Baer website: jennabaer.com
Instagram: @baertracksjenna
ENDS
