Witch Girl Summer
by Margarita Valderrama
Little Lion Theatre Company • The Lion and Unicorn Theatre • 2026
Little Lion Theatre Company • The Lion and Unicorn Theatre • 2026
Horror, girlhood and the internet collide in a physical, sound-driven exploration of isolation, identity and the increasingly blurred line between our digital and physical worlds.
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The ProductionWitch Girl Summer is a horror-comedy about friendship, isolation and the increasingly strange relationship between our online and physical lives. My approach was rooted in the question of how we could make the internet feel theatrical — not by trying to recreate a screen onstage, but by finding a physical and sonic language for the experience of living through one.
Working closely with the actors and creative team, we built a world where horror could emerge through movement, sound, repetition and disruption, allowing the production to move between comedy, intimacy and something increasingly unsettling. |
Directing The Digital
I wasn't interested in putting social media literally onstage. Instead, I wanted to explore how it feels: the repetition, overstimulation, intimacy, isolation and constant pull for attention.
Movement and sound became central to that language. Bodies could behave like feeds, algorithms and glitches; repeated actions could become increasingly uncanny; and sound could move almost imperceptibly from the familiar into horror. The digital world was therefore present without needing to constantly appear on a screen.
Movement and sound became central to that language. Bodies could behave like feeds, algorithms and glitches; repeated actions could become increasingly uncanny; and sound could move almost imperceptibly from the familiar into horror. The digital world was therefore present without needing to constantly appear on a screen.
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Horror as a Theatrical LanguageHorror gave us permission to make the familiar strange. Rather than relying on spectacle, I was interested in tension created through bodies, rhythm, silence and sound — allowing an ordinary moment to shift almost imperceptibly until something no longer felt quite right.
Comedy was equally important. Letting the audience laugh and recognise themselves in these characters made the moments when the world fractured feel all the more unsettling. |
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Building the WorldThe production developed through close collaboration between performance, movement, sound, lighting and design. Rather than treating those elements as layers added onto the work, we used them dramaturgically — allowing each to shape the way the audience experienced the characters' changing relationship with the world around them.
Cast
Witch: Elinor Coleman Girl: Giullianna Martinez Creative
Playwright: Margarita Valderrama Director: Kay Brattan Producer: Amanda Hart Stage Managed: Harri Compton Lighting Design: Ciara Moss Set Design: Valentina Turtur Sound Design: Kay Brattan Video Design: Kay Brattan Movement Direction: Kay Brattan Photos by Héctor Manchego |
Press + Recognition
Interview: In Conversation with Margarita Valderrama and Kay Brattan, Witch Girl Summer | A Young(ish) Perspective
Interview: Glass Skin and Human Limbs: The Horrific Catharsis of Witch Girl Summer | Everything Theatre
Interview: Glass Skin and Human Limbs: The Horrific Catharsis of Witch Girl Summer | Everything Theatre
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★★★★
"Clever videography, haunting movement and atmospheric lighting work together to create a world that feels immersive and unsettling in equal measure." Theatre to See London |
FRINGE THEATRE AWARDS 2025/26
5 Nominations
Outstanding Production
Movement / Choreography Direction: Kay Brattan
Video Design: Kay Brattan
Sound Design: Kay Brattan
Lead Performance: Elinor Coleman
Finalist
Sound Design: Kay Brattan
Movement / Choreography Direction: Kay Brattan
5 Nominations
Outstanding Production
Movement / Choreography Direction: Kay Brattan
Video Design: Kay Brattan
Sound Design: Kay Brattan
Lead Performance: Elinor Coleman
Finalist
Sound Design: Kay Brattan
Movement / Choreography Direction: Kay Brattan
