Becky Nurse of Salem

by Sarah Ruhl

A wry, innovative reckoning with the legacy of the Salem witch trials from one of America’s foremost playwrights. Becky Nurse is an outspoken, sharp-witted tour guide at the Salem Museum of Witchcraft who’s just trying to get by in post-Obama America. She’s also the descendant of Rebecca Nurse, who was infamously executed for witchcraft in 1692—but things have changed for women since then…haven’t they? After losing her job for calling out The Crucible in front of schoolkids, Becky visits a local witch for help. One spell leads to another, and then everything really goes off the rails. A darkly comic play about a woman coming to terms with her family’s legacy and finding her voice in the “lock her up” era. Becky Nurse of Salem  received its world premiere at Berkeley Rep in December 2019, in a production directed by Anne Kauffman. The play will receive its New York premiere at Lincoln Center Theater in the fall of 2022.

Genres: Plays, Drama

112 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

Sarah Ruhl (born 1974) is an American playwright. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for a distinguished American playwright in mid-career.

Originally, she intended to be a poet. However, after she studied under Paula Vogel at Brown University (A.B., 1997; M.F.A., 2001), she was persuaded to switch to playwriting. Her first play was The Dog Play, written in 1995 for one of Vogel's classes. Her roots in poetry can be seen in the way she uses language in her plays. She also did graduate work at Pembroke College, Oxford.

In September 2006, she received a MacArthur Fellowship. The announcement of that award stated: "Sarah Ruhl, 32, playwright, New York City. Playwright creating vivid and adventurous theatrical works that poignantly juxtapose the mundane aspects of daily life with mythic themes of love and war."

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should just give up on Ruhl - I have read most of her plays and there isn't one I have thought to be even really very good. This one suffers from being diffuse, unfocused, and tonally all over the map. In fact, the afterward in which the playwright explicates what lead her to write the damn thing is far more interesting and impactful than anything in the work itself.

One can see what she was TRYING to do in conflating the historical record of the Salem witch trials, the inaccuracies and personal prejudices in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the scapegoating of DJT, and the current opioid crisis - but they never really gel into anything coherent. And the cloyingly cutesy sweet ending does it no favors either. I was thinking maybe I should give it the benefit of the doubt and perhaps it played better than it read - but the decidedly negative reviews of the NY production squashed that notion:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/th....
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theat...

[Katherine Chittenden · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have free will, read more plays!

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tiniest bit messy/erratic, but no less powerful for it. A really intriguing meta-narrative about how we perceive and remember history.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah Ruhl is unbeatable

[Madison Merkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“That The Crucible is performed at almost every high school-and is, in fact, the way American girls and boys understand the history of Salem-added to my frustration. I thought, all those bonnets, all those Goody this and Goody thats, and, really, Miller just wanted to have sex with Marilyn Monroe! I thought, all those women died, but John Proctor was the hero of the story. I thought, to this day, no one knows why the girls engaged in mass hysteria, but it probably was not the lust of one duplicitous eleven-year-old for a middle-aged barkeep.”

Continuing to wonder why we still do the Crucible. Really loved the juxtaposition of Trump rhetoric with Salem witch trials. Love Sarah Ruhl.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

The play suffers from the same affliction as many recent works of art I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing; it lacks focus and has an insatiable need to cover all the issues in the world but at the end, still wrap them all neatly in a bow with a “happy ending” sign, no matter how unlikely or unnecessary. While it had potential, the play spreads itself too thin and, as a result, fails to make a point on any one of the topics it attempts to address. It is disorganized and the ending feels rushed and forced. Things seem to happen illogically just because the plot needs them to (i.e. Becky warming up to Stan at the end, Shelby dropping the charges). The author’s frustration with the political landscape is palpable, but the play fails to offer any real solution, comfort, or a call to action, settling upon the simple message of “be kind and love one another”. While this sentiment can certainly be powerful, in the context of this play, it feels trite and unlikely to solve anything. Important topics like opioid addiction, women’s solidarity/or lack thereof, and dysfunctional families are raised and quickly squashed with a band-aid solution that would never work in real life. Furthermore, this play fails to push the audience to think critically on how they can improve themselves and help those around them in the given sociopolitical climate; an objective that one would assume a theatrical work so steeped in the need for introspection, community, and positive emotions would set out to accomplish.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A post-2016 politically spurred play, I think there's a very interesting concept here, but the written execution is not the strongest. To stage this well would also be tricky for act one, and then maybe a bit dull in act two. But definitely doable, and probably better viewed on stage than read.

[Isabella Greathouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me longer to care than I thought it would. I have an inkling it might be funnier on stage. But as always, the startling parts are as jarring and touching as Ruhl usually is.

[Claudia Conte Buenrostro · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was the afterword. Maybe this play should have been an essay. Still easy to read and entertaining, a tad messy.

[Paige Felger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been on my witch kick and for me, John Proctor is the Villain is #1, Witch by Jen Silverman is #2 and this one is #3. The pacing felt weird to me but I think I might just need to see this one. Sarah Ruhl never disappoints with her inventive storytelling and her both whimsical and dry humored dialogue. I felt like I learned a bit more from her afterward that I would have rather seen in the play. Ultimately, I think the themes here are women have been imperfect and their actions haven’t always made sense. Whether that’s dancing naked in the woods or stealing a wax statue, sometimes women are at the end of their rope and act accordingly. Is it because of some kind of illness or opioids? Or just a world that is cruel and doesn’t support them when they need it most? Either way, Becky Nurse and Rebecca Nurse are real and we should treat them as such. And they should not be hanged for it. And as always, abigail did not pursue John proctor and we have to stop treating men like heroes and women like villains for men being attracted to young women and actual children when they shouldn’t be! (@ Arthur miller) It has taken nearly 400 years to exonerate the women who had been wrongfully hanged. Probably because men have been protected and women have not been seen as real people our entire existence.

[Michael Guillot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm beginning to wonder if Eurydice is the only Ruhl I really enjoy...

It was hard for me to catch this rhythm of this, and to find/hear the humor, just by reading the script alone. I think I could potentially enjoy Becky Nurse a lot more if I saw it, literally to see how it all works and comes together. Maybe I need to hear it out loud.

Ruhl is juggling a lot here. I think the Becky/Bob/Gail/Witch stuff could be its own thing, but to throw in the Trump stuff + the opioid stuff was... a lot going on. I'm not sure we need all of these elements at once.

I enjoyed Ruhl's afterword the most, and I think I enjoy her as a writer more than anything - as in, as an essayist as opposed to a playwright.

I'm itching to dive into John Proctor is the Villain now too. Kind of funny how multiple takes of something surface around the same time...

I don't know! Not sure if this was for me.

[Maia Capleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting and the stories blend of generational trauma and the salem witch trials was something ive never really experienced before but it was really well executed and made for a really gripping and compelling commentary on the way society has historically treated struggling women.

The specific setting of setting it during Trump’s first campaign was particularly effective and created this atmosphere of observation and unrest, almost Big-Brother esque!!

This was the PERFECT thing to read in prep for my essay on The Crucible and John Proctor is the Villain - thank u ben poore you’re the goat xoxo

[Sammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This play is trying to touch on every single subject known to man. Mental health. Bad boy boyfriend. Old age. Feminism. Anti-feminism. Second-chance romance. Ethics of crime. Witches. Magic. Drugs. Opioid crisis. Grief. The history of Salem. Miller's Crucible. The ethics of John Proctor. Arthur Miller's character. And I'm sure I'm missing a few. Sarah, please just pick one. I got whiplash trying to make my way through this.

[Hunter Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and poignant!

Sarah Ruhl’s ability to create magic out of the mundane is why I keep coming back to her plays. This play is so charming! My mom grew up in Danvers, and the characters felt super authentic to our loved ones that are still living in Danvers/Salem. Occasionally the parallels to 2016 and the first round of Trump felt a little heavy handed, but I think having work like this will be essential as we navigate another four years.

[Fernanda]

Described as an “innovative reckoning with the legacy of the Salem witch trials” at first read the play feels like anything but that.

Perhaps too obtuse to understand but the playwright’s explanation for her impetus to write the play is far more interesting than what she wrote.

Still at times dark and slightly comedic. An ideal addition to a Salem history junkie or The Crucible fans collection.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the Afterword was the most interesting part of this. I wish more of it came through in the actual text. I never read plays, so maybe I don't get plays, but I thought the dialogue seemed weirdly flippant despite the depth of the playwright's intention. Maybe it's just hard to connect to characters in a play.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read The Crucible so I think I might have missed some things regarding this text… but I liked how the present (witch hunt with 45) is mixed with the Salem witch trials. I did enjoy this and will read Millers work next

[Grace Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t tell at first what the play was about, but once I got it I knew I would be rereading over and over again. I want to see more plays about the opioid crisis and how the crucible kind of (really) sucks

[M.C. May · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4!

[Ross Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun piece and full of the author’s trademark whimsy. It doesn’t hold me in the same way that “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” does, however.

[Jenn Coté · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am a sarah ruhl stan through and through

[Jack Nix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this play at Lincoln Center and loved it. It was so fun to revisit it for an afternoon.

[John Perine · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting concept that gets lost in the sauce and has some bad pacing issues.

[Crash Solo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid play with great humor and family tension. Loved the Wicca / witchcraft humor and references to the crucible. I think this would be interesting to stage

[Anna Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

an excerpt from my favorite stage direction: “For what is the theater, but a form of magic that comes and goes with the light?”

[Chavala · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 must read

[Chloe Selavka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sure this play is for some people but it was not for me. I found it to be very very slow. Maybe I’ll watch it and enjoy it more.

[Liz Gutridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

yeah the play was great but the numerous pages at the end DRAGGING arthur millers ass? arthur miller found BALD