A Tryal of Witches

directed by Owen Calvert-Lyons, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.

developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme.

Starring Emily Hindle, Claire Storey, Rachel Heaton, Shaniya Hira, Lucy Tuck, Jerry Fullerton and Georgina Gaskin.

“The story remains rooted in the local landscape and the writing wears its research lightly as Brown bears witness to how fractured societies seek scapegoats and subordinates, especially under the influence of a small man longing for supremacy.”

— The Guardian

“The structure of the violence, the hatred, humiliation, and suspicion bear a striking resemblance to the form patriarchal violence takes today.”

— Varsity

“As a result of three years of research, she has come up with a play which has lifted the facts from the dry pages of a history text book, and from the fringes of folklore, and crafted an extraordinary tale which reminds us that our past can also be our future; irrational fears can lead to all sorts of superstitious nonsense, which can put people’s lives in danger or promote the sort of self-centred tribalism that can rip society apart.”

— Suffolk on Stage

East Anglia, 1645. A hot and stifling Summer. The air is thick with paranoia and superstition. Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed Witchfinder General, travels from village to village telling all who will listen about the power of the devil and the prevalence of witches. The villagers have always gone to wise woman Anne Alderman for help in illness and childbirth. She helps Mary conceive and the alewife Rose goes to her to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. But when a child accuses Anne of being a witch, the villagers become wary. The Civil War continues, the crops fail and then a man drops dead in the alehouse. A moral panic sets in, everyone needs somebody to blame.

A Tryal of Witches asks what led to one of the most shocking witch trials in British history.