Although we really like "The Crucible", we agreed that we won't be performing the whole thing as a) it is far too long and b) we don't have a large enough cast. Therefore, we thought that we could do our own version of it. We are researching the actual events of the Salem Witch Trials to see how this compares to "The Crucible" as we are planning to tell this tale but using sections of "The Crucible" script. We shall focus on the main scenes from the actual script but edit the script in places to make it work for us. Below is the research:
- The Salem Witch Trials took place between 1692 and 1693
- Rumours of witchcraft started in other towns / villages (e.g. Boston)
- More than 200 people were accused
- Tituba (Parris' slave), Sarah Good (a beggar and outcast) and Sarah Osbourne (sister-in-law to Ann Putnam) were the first accused. Later the same month, Rebecca (a nurse), Martha Corey (didn't believe in witches), Dorothy Good (only 4 years old) and Rachel Clinton (a beggar) were arrested. They were vulnerable members of the community.
- Bridget Bishop (a tavern-owner) was the first to be executed.
- The girls were aged 9 - 11 (Abigail Williams in "real life" was only 11 years old, whilst the play presented her as about 17).
- 20 were executed
- Giles Corey "refused to enter a plea" and was tortured to death.
- Two dogs were killed as they were suspected of witchcraft.
- Phips created a special court "Oyer + Terminer" that was set up for the trials
- No one was burned at the stake (this punishment was only for men who had committed treason and only "after they had been hanged, quartered and drawn" - due to law at the time).
- 1697 - Courts finally declared the trials false
- 1957 - An apology was made to victims of the trial
- 2001 - The apology was updates to include unnamed victims
- http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials/
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