« The Salem Witches was an act of desperation.» Words by the playwright Arthur Miller about the genesis of this play, based on historical facts.
In 1692, in the small American community of Salem, women and men are persecuted and tried for witchcraft. Rumors and lies abound and no one seems safe from accusation or revenge.
Premiered in 1953, The Witches of Salem was thought of as a parallel to the darkness of McCarthyism that gnawed at the heart of America, consumed by the anti-communist fever, which also killed Miller.
From its epicentre – a primal fascination with paranoia, which sacrifices individuals in its collective fury – multiple echoes resound today.
It is with her that Nuno Cardoso continues his inquiry into the foundations of community life, in another essay on the blindness of social man. Again Miller:
"Beneath the questions of justice, the play unearths a lethal stew of illicit sexuality, fear of the supernatural, and political manipulation."
Photo: ©TUNA_TNSJ-BRUXAS
