The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Elizabeth George Speare
This suggested script comes from chapter 4 where Kit begins to understand
that her life in Connecticut may be very different from the life she has led in
Barbados.
SUGGESTED STAGING:
Rachel, Judith, Kit, and Mercy are seated on chairs. Matthew is seated on a high stool. The narrator stands at a lectern.
NARRATOR'S OPENING LINES:
In this scene from The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare,
young Kit has recently left the island of Barbados after the death of her grandfather.
She arrives in the colony of Connecticut to live with her only remaining family.
Although she has never met her Aunt Rachel or her cousins, Judith and Mercy, Kit
has listened all her life to the tales of her aunt's beauty and humor. Surely,
she believes, she will be welcome and comfortable there.
The characters are Kit, read by ________; her cousins, Mercy
and Judith, read by ________ and _______; their mother, Rachel Wood, read by
________; and their father, Matthew Wood, read by ________. I, ________, am
the narrator.
SCRIPTING SUGGESTIONS:
-
1. Begin the scene as Rachel tells the girls she must leave to help the Widow
Brown.
-
2. Rachel and Matthew remain seated throughout the scene. They do not exit or
enter.
-
3. Insert "bitterly" in parentheses to tell the reader the tone Judith
uses as she reacts to her mother's departure. Use the dialogue as it is written
in the text.
-
4. After Judith urges Kit to show her dresses, have the narrator say that Kit
opens the trunk and the cousins look at her dresses eagerly.
-
5. Continue the dialogue as Judith comments on the slit sleeves.
-
6. After Kit asks the girls to take the gloves, continue her lines with her offer for Judith to try on the dress. Let Kit say "dress" instead of "it."
8. After Judith comments on people being unable to listen to the sermon, let the narrator comment that Rachel comes into the room, unnoticed by the girls.
9. When Kit offers the bonnet to Aunt Rachel, have her say "this bonnet" instead of "this."
10. After Judith asks Rachel to wear the bonnet on Sunday, let the narrator say that Matthew abruptly enters the room and stares at the dresses the girls are holding.
11. As Matthew begins his lines, he will be speaking loudly and authoritatively. He should be leaning slightly forward on his stool. His posture should reflect his outrage.
12. After Matthew's last lines, Rachel tells the girls she is to blame. Insert "sadly" in parentheses before her lines.
13. End the scene as Judith tells Kit she won't get dirty while she is carding.
NARRATOR'S CLOSING LINES:
Kit seeks refuge from the drudgery and harshness of her new home by going to the meadow, where she finds both serenity and friendship. She soon learns how intolerant this society is when the friendship puts her in danger and threatens not only her life but also the lives of others.
