The Season of the Witch

The Witches of Pendle Forest were tried and hanged for murder by witchcraft in an era rife with intense suspicion, religious persecution and social prejudices. Six of the twelve accused came from two families. Their stories are yet untold. 

For The Device Family and The Redferns, living in extreme poverty in an isolated village on the wind beaten moors of Northern England, just surviving is a daily struggle. 

After a local merchant’s chilling encounter with a so-called Witch in Pendle Forest, the cry of witchcraft rings out, reaching the Royal Court of James I, a notoriously zealous witch hunter and author of ‘Daemonologie’ (religious writings on the study of witchcraft). 

A young court clerk Thomas Potts is appointed to investigate, and travels north to seek out the instigators of these dark arts. Very much an outsider, Potts is caught in a world he is both fearful of and beguiled by. The Device Family soon find themselves under intense scrutiny and as Potts gets closer to finding out the truth the hangman’s noose begins to tighten around Pendle.

With an ensemble cast, we explore the very real belief in the occult and witchcraft in an historical setting, taking inspiration from the accused actual confessions. It appears no spell can save them from the Hangman’s noose.