No nightmare ever came

close to this.

The darkness.

The smell.

The clammy air that seeps

through your skin.

And the chains.

YOU ARE IN JAIL...

Even while you’re in the town jail— wondering if

hell could be much different— the girls claim

your specter has been tormenting them back in

the village. So the jailer has locked heavy irons

around your legs.

It makes no sense to you, and you wonder if it

makes sense to anyone.

In your cell in prison, you look around, through

the darkness you recognise Bridget Bishop.

Your soul shivers as you look at this condemned

witch. Just a few days ago, you watched her

trial.

She’s a witch, all right, and her hanging will be

God’s punishment.

But nothing can make you believe that Martha

Cory and Rebecca Nurse are witches. You’ve

seen them; you know them. These are good

women. Martha Cory bows her head and prays.

You are brought to the church.

Now you are accused of being a witch.

You have listened to thousands of semons in

this church.

But now it is different. The CONSTABLE takes

you and hauls you to the front of the room.

All you see are eyes.

The icy eyes of the magistrates.

The clouded eyes of the girls.

The wide-open eyes of the audience.

And the soft, sad eyes of a few old friends.

Neighbor after neighbor accuses you. One saw

your specter fly from the Parris household, then

turn into a blood-red hawk.

Another explains how your specter attacked her

by night.

“I’ve been stabbed!” The white-hot cry fills the room. Your specter has plunged a knife into one of the girls, and she holds the blade before the magistrates. You gulp. This is evidence, the kind that gets people hanged. But then a boy comes forward. The blade is his. It broke yesterday from his knife, he says, and he gave it to one of the girls. The magistrates look angrily at the girls and warn them

never to lie again.

Then come the questions—

fierce,

fast,

furious

Are you a witch?Are you a witch?

Why do you TORMENT these folks?

How do you know you

are not a w i t c h ?

We know you are a

w i t c h

How long have you

been a w i t c h ?

Don’t deny that you are

a witchWhy won’t you confess?

How long have you been in the

S N A R E of the DEVIL?

Why won’t you confess?

Did you make a compact with the Devil?

C O N F E S S !