Entry #3: The Humanization of the Daughters of Salem

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Laurie Brooks play entitled “Afflicted: Daughters of Salem,” published in 2014, delves into a story of the afflicted girls and their sisterhood prior to their accusations. The five have a tight bond, but as the play shows, it slowly deteriorates with the women at the end admitting their guilt in the process. This dramatic reenactment allows the audience to interact with the social ideals of women and accusation in contemporary society. Showing the victimization of the girls involved, the audience is able to understand the precarity of the girls' lives. This forty-five-minute clip is from a high school play and the actresses are around the same age as the ones involved in the actual witch trials in Salem. In the end, there is an interactive moment with the audience as the actresses ask the audience to respond with “yes” or “no” to the guilt of each girl and whether or not they should be punished  (Brooks). This action allows the audience to understand their own morals and values, perhaps reflect on their prior knowledge of these trials and the depiction of them in this play. In this way, the audience is acting in the role of the jury. They are perhaps not educated on the subject and might feel passionately for one side or another, but this allows them to be no different from the people who took part in the real trials in Salem.
After viewing the clip, what are some of your takeaways? How has this adaptation changed the historical aspect of the trials? By humanizing these characters at the end, I believe Brooks’ play evokes the real notion that these girls were victims of the hysteria. Comment your thoughts below!
Citations and links:
Brooks, Laurie. “Afflicted: Daughters of Salem (Play).” Dramatic Publishing, Woodstock, IL.,            2014.
Clip of live production: (https://vimeo.com/223117390) 

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