Fury Theatre are a female led theatre company who pride themselves on exploring female stories with fire, and how stories of the past can act as a lens to tell stories in the present. They very kindly reached out to me recently and asked if I would like to feature their latest play here! So, gather round, dear readers, because I’m delighted to tell you all about: ABIGAIL, currently playing at The Space London.
Written by Stephen Gillard and Laura Turner, ABIGAIL is inspired by the true life character Abigail Williams, a young woman whose accusations formed the basis for the Salem Witch Trials. Yet the play itself places the focus on Abigail and explores what an impact an event like the Trials may have had on a young, vulnerable woman.
In the imagined mythology of the play, Abigail and Nordic slave Solvi shared a tortured
history in Salem at the height of the Witch Trials. Now we find Abigail as a young
woman on the run from the law, trying to find herself in a new world. But the ghosts of
the past – the toxic masculinity that has always surrounded her, the vilification a
passionate woman experiences in the world, and her own mistreatment of Solvi – force
Abigail to ask difficult questions of herself, of her actions and choices, and what it means
to be “empowered” in the world then – and the world now.
Set in a 1692 Massachusetts alive with music, passion, danger and deceit, ABIGAIL explores coercive control, toxic masculinity, privilege, the vilification of powerful women and asks questions about the treatment of women in the justice system then and now.
“My name is Abigail Williams and this is my story. Not the story you think you know, of Salem and courts and crying witch. My story that starts here and ends…”
I’m a huge fan of theatre inspired by true events, and this sounds deliciously dark and hugely powerful, and I wish the team every success… go along and support them if you can!
ABIGAIL by Laura Turner & Stephen Gillard
presented by Fury Theatre
at The Space London
Tuesday 3rd May to Saturday 7th May, 8pm (Sat mat 2.30pm)
Livestream + Q&A with cast and creatives – Thursday 5th May
Tickets £15 / £12 / £10 livestream
For details and to book: https://space.org.uk/event/abigail/.
Wheelie Stagey 