ACT ONE
(AN OVERTURE)
A small upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, Salem,
Massachusetts, in the spring of the year 1692.
There is a narrow window at the left. Through its leaded panes the morning
sunlight streams. A candle still burns near the bed, which is at the right. A
chest, a chair, and a small table are the other furnishings. At the back a door
opens on the landing of the stairway to the ground floor. The room gives op an
air of clean spareness. The roof rafters are exposed, and the wood colors are
raw and unmellowed.