A new play based on the story of the Pendle Witches is currently showing at The Dukes theatre in Lancaster — the same city where they met their deadly fate.

Sabbat, which opened this week, attempts to unravel the mysteries behind one of England’s most notorious trials, which took place in 1612.

We spoke to the production’s award winning director, Darwen-born Amy Leach.

IT’S fair to say that the story of the Pendle Witches isn’t one which leaves an audience filled with joy.

It’s a sombre tale cataloguing the events that led to execution of 10 people for the crime of witchcraft. They were believed to have murdered, by witchcraft, 17 people in the Forest of Pendle.

Yet, 400 years on, a play about the events has the power to intrigue packed theatre with its intense acting and the many questions it poses. Did Alice Nutter and the others really take part in a witches’ sabbat? Or were these Pendle folk innocent victims at a time of persecution, paranoia and superstition?

Sabbat, currently running at The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster, imagines the events leading up to the trial and execution of The Lancashire Witches and asks: who held the real power behind the tightly closed doors of Pendle? How many lives were destroyed by laws born out of fear?

“It’s had a fantastic reception so far,” says the modest 27-year-old director Amy Leach, who has directed a long list of professional plays in the North West since leaving university in 2003, “The audience reaction has been brilliant so far. The tickets obviously sold brilliantly and mainly by word of mouth, which is a real compliment,” she said.

Amy, who lived in Peregrine Drive, Darwen, until she was 21, added. “I’m honoured to be directing such a fantastic new play which is inspired by the stories, the history and the weather of the county where I grew up. We've got a talented team working on the show and I’m excited to tell this gripping story."

The Dukes Theatre has announced today that an extra week of performances have been added after having had more people booking tickets for the production than any other in recent memory.

Joe Sumsion, director of The Dukes, said: “Amy’s work is energetic, original and passionate — she really is one of the most talented young directors working in Britain today. And as a ‘Lancashire lass’ it’s very fitting that her first show for us is Sabbat — a young Lancashire artist re-telling one of the most famous of Lancashire stories.”

And on the back of its success, Amy is being recognised in the street.

“After the first night a woman who had been to see the show served me in Marks and Spencer and recognised me. I thought 'oh my nan will be so proud',” she said. “She thinks I’m really famous and expects to see my name in lights.”

The new play begins on Good Friday, 1612. High on a hill in the wild and lawless area of Pendle, a secret meeting is held at Malkin Tower. By the end of the year, most of those present have been sentenced to death at Lancaster Castle — hanged for the crime of witchcraft.

There is one scene that is particularly shocking, Amy reveals, and that is the moment she has portrayed the actual hanging of the witches. To see how it’s done, you have to go and watch.

And although its been a highlight for Amy, it’s such an upsetting story that she has had to work hard to keep rehearsals cheery.

“The actors get really into their parts and every day can be very emotional. And it's wonderful for me as a director to see them getting so into their characters and how they would have been feeling, “ she says. “But when we have a break I get them playing silly childish games like tag and eating cakes. Everyone knows cake equals happiness.”

But one realisation from doing this play has moved Amy more than productions she has worked on before. “The really sad thing about this play, aside from how barbaric the details are, is when I realised that the way these witches were persecuted for their belief and for being different still goes on today, and people are still so prejudiced 400 years on.”

Amy started off her career wanting to be an actress and a dancer. She went to Darwen Library Theatre and Pat Eakets School of Dancing, but eventually realised she was “too much of a control freak” to be told how to act or dance by someone else and decided to try her hand at directing. The BFG was her first big play, for which she assistant director at Bolton Octagon Theatre, and now Sabbat is her 20th production.

Last year was an incredible year for Amy which finished with her scooping a prize at the prestigious Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards for her production of Dr Korczak’s Example at The Royal Exchange Theatre, in Manchester.

On leaving university, Amy and a few friends set up a theatre company, called En Masse Theatre, producing plays for a youth audience. Amy also directs many of these when she is not freelancing in adult theatres. The company performed one of their shows, NAME, at last year’s prestigious Edinburgh Festival.

Living partly with her mum in Great Harwood and partly with her fiance in London, Amy is proud of her Lancashire roots and even goes as far to say that she believes the theatre scene in the North West is better than London’s.

“I think it’s something about the people in the north, their spirit,” she says. “We hate to be outdone and I think we compete with the capital.

She said: “I love London’s theatres but I think living somewhere like East Lancashire you have better access to great theatres. I’m roud to be from here and I love working in our fantastic theatres.”

l Sabbat runs every night until Saturday February 21 at The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster. Extra dates from February 25 to February 28, including a Saturday matinee. Call the box office on 01524 598500.