BLACK WOOD
2023
Created for the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, BLACK WOOD was a dark journey through fear, adversity, and finding strength within your tribe. The production introduced Gunnar Montana’s Witch Coven, a fierce band of forest-dwelling women bound by ritual, survival, and a shared hunger for revenge.
BLACK WOOD opened with the coven surrounding a tent and murdering the men who dared to enter their woods. The witches ripped away the tent covering to reveal its steel frame, which immediately transformed into an aerial apparatus that sent performers flying above the forest.
At the center of BLACK WOOD was the story of a woman trapped in a violent relationship. Her house suddenly unfolded before the audience, exposing the private world hidden inside and a gut wrenching scene of domestic violence. She survived by discovering a power within herself that she had not yet known how to use, eventually finding her place among the women of the woods.
From there, the forest became a place of retaliation. Aggressive fight sequences erupted throughout the production as the coven protected its own. The abusive man was ultimately captured and sacrificed to an ancient creature living deep within the woods.
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Broad Street Review described BLACK WOOD as an exploration of “sex, sorcery, and power,” praising the immersive environment surrounding Montana’s story of terror and revenge.
The Philadelphia Inquirer also highlighted BLACK WOOD among its 2023 Fringe recommendations. Fringe curator Ellen Owens Saligman said, “I never miss a Gunnar Montana production and I am never disappointed,” while recognizing Montana’s choreography and distinctive visual language.
BLACK WOOD was also selected by FringeArts as a Week 2 Fringie frontrunner during the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
FUN FACT
BLACK WOOD marked the first time Montana incorporated hair hanging into one of his productions. For the finale, performer Nicole Burgio suspended and spun high above the stage while held only by her hair. Burgio was new to the art form and trained extensively before and throughout the production to make the sequence possible. The result became one of Montana’s most effective closing images to date, a haunting vision of a naked woman spinning weightlessly above the coven lit solely by candlelight.
