England’s witch trials burn again
Before Salem, there was Manningtree. Deliver Us From Evil trades the familiar horrors of the American witch trials for England’s own blood-soaked history, plunging us into the brutal witch hunts of 17th-century Essex. A chilling antidote to the summer heat, the production transports us to Manningtree, where a sudden heatwave of paranoia, superstition and mass hysteria, turns its small community against Elizabeth Clarke (Anastasia Babich).
Clarke’s story is not just one of accusation, but survival. Orphaned after her mother was executed for witchcraft, she now finds herself facing the same fate while trying to protect her infant daughter. Dragged before self-styled witch hunter John Stearne (Rob Wallis) and his eager protégé Matthew Hopkins (Finton McCluskey), she is subjected to relentless interrogation and torture.
The play powerfully highlights how witchcraft accusations targeted those with the least power. Single mothers, outsiders and women living on the margins became easy scapegoats for communities looking to explain hardship or misfortune. Clarke’s disability further isolates her in a society where difference could easily be weaponised. Her story becomes a devastating portrait of generational trauma, as three generations of women are shaped by the same cycle of fear, misogyny and persecution.
Written and directed by K.S. Norris, drawing from her PhD on the subject, Deliver Us From Evil is clearly built on meticulous historical research. The horrifying details of interrogation and torture are presented with unsettling authenticity, aided by Sarah Hoskin’s costumes and the stark set and props designed by Florence Eadie and Azul Alysum. Yet despite its impressive research and lesser-known English setting, the play rarely offers a fresh perspective on witch trials as a broader subject.
Similarly, the emotional impact doesn’t always land. Babich gives a committed performance, but Clarke’s eventual confession and forced betrayal of other innocent women never quite reaches the devastating crescendo it needs. Her psychological collapse feels rushed rather than inevitable, leaving the production’s most tragic moment feeling strangely muted. Instead, Clarke’s dry observations about the complete lack of evidence against the accused provide some of the play’s biggest laughs, a grim reminder that the accusations may have been absurd, but the consequences were devastating.
Beneath the period setting lies an unmistakable warning about our own age of conspiracy theories, extremism and misinformation. Deliver Us From Evil may not reinvent the historical drama, but its exploration of fear, scapegoating and public hysteria feels uncomfortably relevant.
Deliver Us From Evil ran until 6th August at the Bridewell Theatre, London.