The HerStory Arts Festival (23 – 26 April 2025), presented by Lost Voices Australia Inc. aims to celebrate and amplify women’s stories, especially those that have been lost to HIStory. The three-day event, which includes plays, readings of poetry, memoirs, essays, along with musical performances and art displays, is designed to foster creativity and ignite conversations. This new, independent arts festival attempts to uplift and elevate women’s forgotten narratives, putting their voices front and centre.
Part of the festival is the play Abigail Williams at the Sydney Theatre Company. A well-known character in the Arthur Miller 1953 play The Crucible, Abigail is often portrayed in popular culture as a manipulative, hyper sexualised liar who uses the fear of witchcraft in Salem in 1692 to enact revenge on her previous employer John Proctor.
The play follows Abigail’s journey from childhood and the loss of her parents to her employment in the Proctor home at the age of 17. It covers the period of time in the lead up to the beginning of The Crucible, exploring Abigail’s loss of innocence at the hands of John Proctor and her abrupt casting out of the Proctor house once John’s wife, Elizabeth, discovers the infidelity.
Written and directed by Rebecca McNamee (she/her), the audience is asked to question the narrative we have been sold. A 17 year old girl is taken advantage of by a 35 year old married man, an upstanding member of his community, and yet she is painted as the villain and a temptress. Why have we never questioned the enormous power imbalance? While Abigail’s actions in The Crucible are not excusable (falsely accusing people of witchcraft is never a good idea), this play is an attempt to understand her motivations.
Ebony Tucker (she/her) as Abigail is magnetic. As this is a one-woman show, there is nowhere for her to hide on stage, as all eyes are on her, the audience hanging on her every word. Her depiction of Abigail’s journey from naïve and innocent to scorned and broken is remarkable. As her story unfolds, items of her clothing are removed and artfully placed around the stage. It is as if we are seeing a physical representation of her slow loss of innocence, a shedding of who she once was as she is laid bare.
The staging is simple and effective, with lighting design by Chris Milburn (he/him) creating the perfect amount of dramatic effect. So much is conveyed through a glance, a gesture and a slow walk through the shadows, the ominous sense of dread hanging heavy in the theatre. Much of the staging was created through the use of thick ropes hanging from the ceiling, a subtle yet poignant nod to the many women who were wrongfully accused of witchcraft and hanged during the Salem witch trials.
The only part that felt slightly jarring was when Tucker / Abigail began talking about the case of Christopher Dawson and his affair with his babysitter, a 16 year old high school student in the 1980s. While I can appreciate the attempt at presenting a more contemporary example of a comparable situation, having it presented suddenly in the middle of Abigail’s story only served in taking me out of her story and into another. I’m not sure it added much value and the play would be just as powerful had it been omitted.
Abigail Williams is an extraordinary play, shining a light on a tale untold and to a women who was never given a voice.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Abigail Williams will play at the Sydney Theatre Company until 26 April 2025 as part of the HerStory Arts Festival.
For more information head to the Sydney Theatre Company website.
Reviewer attended on 23 April 2025.
Header image credit: Robert Miniter
