The Puritans, famously at the heart of many of Britain’s seventeenth-century witch trials, did not call themselves Puritans; they most commonly called themselves ‘the godly.’ They believed that only a select few would reach heaven, and that ‘the ungodly’ would suffer eternal damnation. The Ungodly, a new historical play by Joanna Carrick, follows a young couple as they are drawn into the paranoia, prejudice, and violence of the East Anglian witch trials. Based on real historical figures like the infamous ‘Witchfinder’ Matthew Hopkins, this chilling tale explores how religious fervour can grow to have devastating consequences.

The play opens on a desolate scene of grief, as Susan (Nadia Jackson) has just buried the baby her late sister left in her care. Richard (Christopher Ashman) injects some humour into the scene as he can’t help but remind Susan that he would be happy to marry her. Despite this inauspicious start, the two find their way into a tender and flirtatious relationship and, soon, an affectionate marriage. Vincent Moisy as Matthew Hopkins is the awkward third orbiting around this happy couple; a preacher’s son, Matthew is deeply and fervently pious. A Stuttering and shy teenager at first, he makes ominous comments which reveal the dogmatic misogyny and rejection of pleasure that characterised the Puritan faith. Over the next two hours, Richard and Susan slowly lose their grip on certainty and optimism as they lose multiple children in infancy, and the suspicion that there are darker forces at play looms ever larger. Matthew is drawn deeper and deeper into his search to root out sin, and eventually steps into the role he is infamous for – the Witchfinder General. Moisy brings a strong sense of physicality to the role as Matthew becomes more confident and sinister, changing his speech and posture almost entirely by the end of the show. Jackson and Ashman as Richard and Susan deliver compelling performances as a married couple navigating the depths of sadness and loss.

Brought to life by the Red Rose Chain Theatre Company, this play is rich in details which will delight the history enthusiasts in the audience. David Newborn’s production grounds the story with minimal, yet evocative props and furniture; Susan is kept busy with dusting and folding laundry in a domestic bustle. The costumes have been chosen with the same attention to detail, down to the leather ties on each shoe. Matt Penson’s original music adds a slightly cinematic tone to the atmosphere, but the shining musical moment came when Richard sings a few phrases of a hymn as he searches for comfort in a moment of despair. Historic music can feel stiff or inaccessible, and moments like this help audiences imagine how these songs would permeate people’s lives just as music does today.

Carrick’s intensive research process has resulted in a very grounded, tangible, and thoughtful work. With the plotline centering on Richard and Susan’s transformation from grounded, happy newlyweds to a grief-stricken, revenge-bent pair, the focus lies on the witch trials’ accusers rather than the accused. The production is not lacking in drama; set in the round, the dynamic staging makes the most of the intimate space. David Newborn’s lighting adds some truly striking moments as Richard and Susan’s faces are thrown into sharp relief. Carrick asks what it takes for rational, intelligent people to become radicalised into cult-like mindsets, in ways considered extreme even by other devoutly religious people at the time. This story does not delve into the spectacles of the trials or executions, and leaves out many of Matthew Hopkins’s more gruesome methods of extracting confessions from the accused. This is, instead, a character study of two people forced to alter their worldview by unexplainable tragedy and the desperate desire for answers.

The Ungodly is running at Southwark Playhouse in Borough until November 16th, and will transfer to New York in 2025.