Contrasting the persecution of witches during the 17th Century with our current climate seems like an interesting idea. Unfortunately Becky Nurse of Salem is a jumbled assortment of ideas with underdeveloped characters and a half-baked premise.
“My name is Becky Nurse and I’ll be your tour guide.” She is literally a tour guide of a witches museum in Salem. She is also a descendant of a witch who was burned at the stake many generations ago. As a result, her knowledge is better than anyone else’s or perhaps not. Our guide enjoys liquid lunches at the bar of her high school crush Bob (Bernard White).
During one particular tour for a group of nuns, she drops some inappropriate language. Her boss Shelby (Tina Benko) promptly fires her. Becky decides to hire a witch (Candy Buckley) to give her a plan. Her revenge follows which involves breaking and entering followed by jail time.
There is the one dimensional buffoon called The Jailer (Thomas Jay Ryan) who torments poor misbehaved Becky. Added to this mix is a granddaughter Gail (Alicia Crowder) who is in a mental hospital after watching her mother overdose in a pharmacy. Gail also has an older boy love interest (Julian Sanchez).
Toward the end of the first act we hear “Lock her up. Kill the witch. Lock her up.” References are drawn to today’s headlines but then the play reverts back to a bizarre juxtaposition of family drama, substance abuse withdrawals, hallucinations, prison abuse antics and a love story. None of these plot points are fully explored so it is difficult to care about any of them.
Occasionally arrows are slung at easy targets such as “the Sackler’s should be in fucking jail”. Becky’s boss will visit her in jail and find it difficult to balance herself while talking and sitting on the toilet seat. Much time is spent garnering laughs which sometimes amuse. “It’s not like witches have malpractice insurance” was a fun quip.
The play also harks back to 1692 and Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. A connection is made between Miller’s seventeen year supposed seducer of John Proctor. In fact, we are told, she was really only eleven. That moral quandary is likened to his lustful obsession with Marilyn Monroe.
Director Rebecca Taichman (Indecent, School Girls or The Mean African Girls Play) does not create a scenario where Sarah Ruhl’s skit-like structure can gel. Many performances are flat or worse. Deidre O’Connell (last year’s Tony winner for Dana H.) performs the title character. She gives her all in a loud manic caricature that is at least fun to watch. Both of the male love interests are solidly believable and nicely grounded amidst the confusing turmoil.
One of the conclusions made in Becky Nurse of Salem is that the witches were found guilty since “there were no women on that jury”. That may be true. If you look around today, our current environment has plenty of women who gleefully embody the stereotypical finger pointing moralistic hysteria of that puritan era. That strikes me as far more compelling than the comparisons being made on the stage.
Becky Nurse of Salem is playing at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater through December 31, 2022.