The Sorceress: A Drama in Five Acts

"The Sorceress: A Drama in Five Acts" by Victorien Sardou is a theatrical play written in the early 20th century. The drama revolves around themes of love, bigotry, and persecution set against the backdrop of 16th-century Spain after the Reconquista. The primary characters include Zoraya, a Moorish woman accused of sorcery, and Don Enrique, a Castilian officer who grapples with his feelings for her amidst the societal conflicts of their time. At the start of the play, we are introduced to a tense scene involving the arrest of local peasants, accused of stealing the body of a young Moor, Kalem, who was stoned to death for his forbidden love affair with a Christian girl. Don Enrique, the commander of the archers, intervenes to question the captured peasants, displaying both authority and compassion. We learn of the tensions between Christians and Moors, and the prejudices that lead to accusations of witchcraft. The initial clash sets the stage for the unfolding drama, particularly highlighting the relationship between Enrique and Zoraya, which hints at deeper themes of love and societal boundaries as they navigate their dangerous world together. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Victorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-century operas such as La Tosca (1887) on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca (1900) is based, and Fédora (1882) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) that provided the subjects for the lyrical dramas Fedora (1898) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1915) by Umberto Giordano. His play Gismonda, from 1894, was also adapted into an opera of the same name by Henry Février.