A Tryal of Witches

In Bury St Edmunds in 1645, new mother Mary, alehouse worker Rose, and local healer Anne find themselves implicated in a deadly witch hunt, where for the first time in history 'spectral evidence' is admissible in court to affirm that witches can appear in two places at once.

You really think I’d be here with you in the mud, the cold and the wet if I had proper magic?

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. The trial in Bury St Edmunds was the first time women were convicted using ‘spectral evidence’ – the belief that witches could be in two places at one time.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, in March 2025. The production featured original music composed by the band, TRILLS.

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