A dramatic retelling of a dark, yet important part of regional history where scores of women were hanged as they were thought to be witches. This play is about four of these women in Bury, how they were persecuted and how they are not to be forgotten.
17th Century Suffolk was a time of Civil War, crops were failing, illness was rife, people in towns and villages were poor, hungry, scared and looking for something to blame.
We enter a village where Mary is giving birth, her mother Sarah, who is close friends with the Vicar, and friend Rose, the local pub landlady, are with her. The pain is unbearable so Rose goes off to seek out Anne, the local healer to see what can be done.
Matthew Hopkins and his scribe John Stearne arrive in the village. Matthew Hopkins is the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General who went around East Anglia ‘hunting’ witches, extracting confessions via torture techniques and sentencing them to death.
As we learn about the life of each woman we become emotionally attached, we understand their lives, their burdens, their fears and the decisions they make. They are normal women. Matthew Hopkins clearly had a obscure view of women and with his obsession for finding witches he was able to convince others these women were possessed by the devil. He convinced sensible people to take his lies as truth and whatever evidence these women told he was able to manipulate the narrative to his favour. He would extract confessions by keeping people in filthy jails with no sleep or food and torture them.
The portrayal of this story is wonderful, albeit dark and grim, the subject matter does not allow much happiness. However, the storytelling is all encompassing, we empathise with these women, we’re emotionally attached as we learn about their lives and their fears. We’re dumbfounded at how Hopkins was able to get away with these practices.
The last few scenes are powerful as it is the night before they are hanged and how although they have accepted their defeat, they come together to sing and dance in a raw, innate, almost spiritual form showing they are strong, defiant and brave. A list of women’s names spoken aloud in remembrance – the names of real women who died at the hands of Hopkins.
There were many elements of the play which added incredible depth to the performance. The all-female cast were doubling up on playing the male characters and they changed into and out of their characters in view of the audience. Seeing this change allowed the audience to transition too. The music is also an added feature of this performance, almost a character in itself. The actors were singing haunting folk ballads when there were scene changes, or there would be deep string chords which were evocative and melancholy.
Along with the amazing cast, it all came together perfectly for a stunning and impactful performance which leaves a mark.
Cast:
Rachel Heaton
Emily Hindle
Shaniya Hira
Clare Storey
Lucy Tuck
A Tryal of Witches is at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds until 22nd March – go here for more info.
Photo Credit: Tom Soper Photography
Watch the YouTube review here.