Sussex University's Drama Society (SUDS) conjured up a bubbling cauldron of fear and wickedness, leaving its audience spellbound.

Spirits were summoned, a young girl's name was written in blood and the Devil himself could almost be felt walking among the seats during the company's dramatic production of Arthur Miller's tale The Crucible.

Miller wrote the play in 1953 and based his work on the witch-hunts in Salem in the 17th Century to parallel the events of the time when the US was living in the shadow of the fear of communism.

The story revolves around Betty Parris, a young villager who lies in a trance on her bed.

It transpires that Betty and her friends, Abigail and Tituba, were caught dancing in the woods and accused of witchcraft - at which point, Betty fainted.

The girls go on to accuse others of witchcraft and, before the play is over, good people are condemning other good people to the gallows.

With an almost-bare stage and a simple backdrop, SUDS somehow spirited us back to the 17th Century.

Danielle Smith played Betty Parris and her stillness was mesmerising, particularly when all around her there was angst and hand-wringing by the evil Abigail, played by Sarah Harris, and Betty's father, the Reverend Parris, played by Mike McHugh.

At one point, Betty did rise from her bed in a delirious state and took a fantastic slap across the face, much to the delight of the audience.

Many of the accusations of witchcraft in the play are driven by the affair between farmer and husband John Proctor, played by Charlie Walker-Wise, and the woodland-dancing Abigail.

Walker-Wise's Proctor was a masterpiece ofacting, as was Rokeya Douglas's Tituba.

Overall, it was a pacy, highly-charged production presented by a collective of very talented young actors.