Five great plays that adapt famous stories in surprising ways

Witch Hunt by Liz Duffy Adams

Synopsis: 10 years after Abigail Williams, instigator of the witch trials, disappeared from Salem, she turns up at the tavern of her fellow ex witch-hunter, Mercy Lewis. About to leave the colonies forever, it's her last chance to understand the madness that overtook them. But with war threatening northern New England yet again, Mercy and her fellow townspeople are in no mood for Abigail's doubts, which suggest to them complicity with the devil. And just when everything is at its most dangerously tense—the devil himself shows up.

Why it's great: Liz Duffy Adams is one of the smartest writers we know. In plays such as Born With Teeth or The Salonnières, she's adept at taking historical details and fashioning them into new takes on stories we thought we knew. In Witch Hunt, we catch up with two of the girls who started the Salem witch hunts 10 years after the events of The Crucible and see what the repercussions have been for them.

Link to show: http://trwplays.co.uk/witch-hunt

Glassheart by Reina Hardy

Synopsis: Beauty never showed up. After centuries under the curse, the Beast and his remaining magical servant (a hopelessly optimistic lamp) move into a shabby Chicago apartment, hoping for a lower cost of living and better luck with girls. In the threatening, impossible, completely ordinary world of paying rent and taking public transportation, is a happy ending even possible? A romantic tragi-comedy about facing the witch in your head, and finding the wish in your heart.

Why it's great: Reina Hardy spins an offbeat tale as she wonders what might've happened to the Beast if Beauty never showed up. Her Beast inhabits a version of Chicago that's both in the real world, but still tinged with elements of fantasy and magic. It's an unexpected story that's charming, touching, and funny all at once.

Link to show: http://trwplays.co.uk/glassheart

Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really by Kate Hamill

Synopsis: In this new adaptation of Dracula from Kate Hamill, the playwright-actor confronts the sexism in Bram Stoker's original work, turning it into a feminist revenge fantasy.

Why it's great: This adaptation of Bram Stoker's story is unlike anything you've seen. Kate Hamill comes at Dracula with her signature style: a razor-sharp wit, unexpected choices, and a sly feminist take. Mixing comedy (high and low, dark and light) and drama, Hamill delivers a wholly new version where the women win the day.

Link to show: http://trwplays.com/dracula

Shakespeare's Dead Dames And Shakespeare's Dead Dudes by David Overton

Synopsis: After their in-performance deaths, six female Shakespearean characters find themselves in a holding area until the play they are a character in gets revived by another Shakespeare company so that they can (re) live their tragedy over (and over) again. It's a comic romp that evokes Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit meets Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author meets Monty Python's Flying Circus. Also available is Shakespeare's Dead Dudes, the same story premise that follows six male Shakespearian characters in a holding area, waiting to (re)live their tragedy over again.

Why it's great: David Overton takes Shakespearean characters and themes and combines them with a healthy dose of absurdism, by way of Pirandello and Stoppard, then adds a dash of existentialism, by way of Sartre and Beckett, to create these two hilarious one-acts, which are tailor-made for students.

Link to show: http://trwplays.co.uk/shakespeares-dead-dames and http://trwplays.co.uk/shakespeare-s-dead-dudes

Small Enchantments by Lila Rose Kaplan

Synopsis: 12 princesses sneak out to a ball every night. Or so they say. You see, their father locks them in the palace. Some say he's overprotective, others say he's evil. Either way, 12 young women are trapped. And where is their mother, you might wonder? Oh, their mother is a dying tree and their aunt a moody river. But these are 12 most unusual young women. These are fierce princesses unlike any you've met before. Can they free themselves? What will it take?

Why it's great: If the Brothers Grimm were sisters and writing fairy tales today, this is a story they might have created. The 12 princesses in Kaplan's fantastical world figure out how to rescue themselves from their father's (and society's) imprisonment. The writing is lyrical and the play unfolds with a marvelous dream-like quality.

Link to show: http://trwplays.co.uk/small-enchantments