The play opens in the woods outside of Salem, Massachusetts, where a group of girls lead by Abigail are dancing. Tituba, the black slave, murmurs something over a kettle and then gives the blood inside to a few of the girls to drink, and some of the girls take off their clothes. Reverend Parris, Tituba's owner and Abigail's uncle, finds them in the middle of the night. The next morning, Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam, who were both dancing in the woods the night before, fall into a mysterious illness, and some of the townspeople claim it was caused by witchcraft. Reverend Hale comes to examine Betty. He decides that witchcraft is a possible cause of her illness, and speaks with Abigail and Tituba.

Under pressure from Hale, Tituba says she has been doing the devil's work. Abigail, too, confesses to having seen the devil. Then both of...