Is it possible Josh Hecht made a deal with the Devil: My soul for a flawless performance of Jen Silverman’s Witch?

How else could mere mortal actors and designers – plus a composer, choreographer and fight director – create such a polished production that’s both devilishly funny and darkly human, while also delivering the emotional kick that’s often found in performances by scrappier theater companies?

Taken from the Faustian play The Witch of Edmonton, written in 1621 by William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, and John Ford, Silverman’s story, directed by Hecht for Profile Theatre, explores what happens when a devil named Scratch (Joshua J. Weinstein) comes to Edmonton and tries to tempt the villagers into trading their souls in exchange for their secret desires.

What Cuddy Banks (Charles Grant) wants is the freedom to pursue his beloved Morris dancing … and to finally receive some unconditional love and respect from his father, Sir Arthur Banks (George Mount). Sir Arthur, though, favors the upwardly mobile Frank Thorney (Logan Bailey), a poor young fellow who cleverly fawns on the wealthy landowner and better fits Sir Arthur’s idea of virile manhood.

While Cuddy and Frank are putty in Scratch’s hands, Elizabeth Sawyer (Lauren Modica-Soloway), the town outcast who’s rumored to be a witch, is a tougher customer. Thanks to Modica-Soloway’s superb performance, Elizabeth’s slightest look reflects the fact that she’s equipped with a top-of-the-line bullshit detector. “That’s your pitch?” she asks Scratch when he tries to tempt her.

Every performance here is exceptional, and, thanks to Silverman’s intricate character-building, multifaceted. Cuddy’s sweetness is punctuated with his increasing rage over his lack of power and the necessity of hiding his true self from his father. Meanwhile, Frank is both outwardly affable and a bully who could conceivably goad the most mild-mannered soul into an act of violence. Even Scratch, who seems like a smooth corporate tool, might have feelings that complicate his ruthless march through little old Edmonton.

Much of the abundant humor in the show comes from the situation itself. Everyone wears 17th century clothes – some plain, some ruffled and richly patterned (all beautifully designed by Ahmad Santos) – and yet they talk in the plain American English of today. Thankfully, Silverman’s direction reads, “no faux-period accents, please.” As a result, we get to hear a jealous Cuddy unload to Scratch:

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“Everybody is all, ‘Ooh Frank Thorney.’ My dad is like, obsessed with Frank Thorney. … It’s like, uhh, hello, I’m your son, what’s the BFD with Frank??”

Scratch talks in terms of transactions and customer satisfaction, and Sir Arthur sounds like a coach, waving his fists in the air and refusing to acknowledge the rising resentments in his own castle. When, for example, things heat up between Frank and Cuddy, he spins it into a healthy development, saying, “Love a lively conversation! Gets the digestion going!” As for Elizabeth, one of her many perfectly timed responses to Scratch is, “That’s dumb.”

The scenic design (Peter Ksander) alone is worth the cost of admission. At the beginning of the play, we see a plain room with high, dark wood-paneled walls, a space that serves both as Elizabeth’s lonely hut and the pub where the Devil does his first dealings. It turns out, though, that the back walls are actually pocket doors that slide open to reveal the castle, with Sir Arthur’s central throne and Frank and Cuddy sitting on either side as they’re served grapes and dates by the mostly ignored Winifred (Jessica Tidd), who is hiding her own heartbreak.

Also featured at the castle is a giant portrait of Cuddy’s dead mother, a comical figure with wild eyes and an enormous ruff encircling her face. But those eyes look out at an explosive scene (directed by Kristen Mun-Van Noy) that’s charged with a mixture of hate and desire, plus a stunning dance (choreographed by Adin Walker) that begins with the traditional flavor of English country steps and turns into a blazing display of individual expression.

The production also incorporates excellent music and lighting (by Rory Stitt and Blanca Forzan, respectively) to build the tension and/or add bubbles of humor throughout.

“How do we have hope?” the play asks, a question one could chew on for eternity. Another question that Silverman does emphatically answer, though, is how people lose hope in the first place. Here, as in life, it settles in the breast of characters who feel unseen, regardless of their social status. Cuddy, who dresses in increasingly lavish costumes adorned with ribbons, bows and bells, deals with an internal torment that’s as real to him as Elizabeth’s poverty and isolation are to her.

While such an examination of humanity might not fill everyone with hope, I can easily imagine that this production will. After all, the world has been home to far too many tyrants, but it also produces the likes of Mozart, Shakespeare, and our own shining contemporary creators suh as Silverman, plus the wondrous artists at Profile Theatre who have somehow come together to bring the playwright’s ingenious vision to life.

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• Profile Theatre’s Witch will continue at the Ellen Bye Studio in Portland Center Stage’s Armory, 128 N.W. 11^th Ave., through Nov. 2. Added performance 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. See ticket and schedule information here.
• To learn more about the play, find Caitlin Nolan’s preview for ArtsWatch here.