The Witch’s Fire: The Tale of Frau Trude is a haunting adaptation of a Brothers Grimm story that explores curiosity, disobedience, and the terrifying cost of ignoring warnings. Deep in the forest stands the mysterious house of Frau Trude, a woman spoken of only in whispers. When young Claire defies her parents and seeks out the witch, she discovers too late that some doors, once opened, can never be closed.
This play invites children and audiences to reflect on the value of obedience, wisdom, and the unseen dangers that hide behind curiosity.
CHARACTERS:
MOTHER
FATHER
CLAIRE
FRAU TRUDE: Initially too sweet, unnervingly calm, with a deep, resonant voice. Her transformation should be slow, terrifying, and final.
SILENT BLACK AND GREEN WATCHERS: These are not “men” but distorted, non-human figures—perhaps wearing simple, unnervingly smooth masks, or with unsettlingly long limbs. They are spectral echoes of her victims, only ever seen on the periphery.
SCRIPT:
SCENE I: The Final Warning
(The Mother is in the garden, a beautiful but overgrown space, watering a dying patch of flowers. She is distracted. Claire approaches her with a sense of hurried excitement about her.)
CLAIRE: (Brightly, too casually) Have you seen my coat, Mother?
MOTHER: It’s on the hook. Why? Where are you going, Claire? You know we have supper soon.
CLAIRE: I’m going to see Frau Trude.
(The Mother freezes. Her hand slips, and the watering can clatters on the stone path. She finally looks at Claire, her eyes wide with a cold, immediate panic.)
MOTHER: (A sharp, choked whisper) What?
CLAIRE: I said I’m going to meet her. I told you last week.
MOTHER: (Jumping up, grabbing Claire’s arm with surprising strength) Get inside the house, now! You are not going anywhere near that place, do you hear me?
CLAIRE: (Pulling free, dismissive) Don’t be ridiculous, Mother. It’s an adventure. People say she’s a wonderful eccentric woman, and that her house is filled with marvelous, ancient things.
MOTHER: (Voice shaking, bordering on hysteria) The things in that house are not marvelous! They are… relics of a sickness! You don’t know what you’re talking about, Claire! You are a child!
(The Father comes out from the house, drawn by the yelling.)
FATHER: What is this racket? Anna! What is it?
MOTHER: (Pointing a trembling finger at Claire) She’s going to her! She’s going to the witch’s house!
FATHER: Absolutely not. Go to your room, Claire. Immediately.
CLAIRE: (Eyes flashing with defiance) No. I won’t. I’m tired of your rules and your whispers. Everyone in town knows she has power. I want to see what a real witch looks like.
MOTHER: (Pleading, stepping closer to her) Claire, listen to me. She is a terrible, wicked woman who does things that cannot be unseen! I knew someone… I knew someone who went to that house…
CLAIRE: (Scoffs, turns away) Old stories for obedient children. You’re just trying to scare me.
FATHER: (Reaches out, intending to stop her physically) I said no! That’s enough! Get inside!
CLAIRE: (A wild laugh, full of nervous energy) No! Stay away from me!
(Claire runs, bolting into the thick woods that press up against their garden. Her parents can only watch.)
MOTHER: (A sound of pure despair) Claire! Claire! Come back! Please!
FATHER: It’s no good. The woods… they swallow sound. Come on, Anna. (He pulls his wife back toward the house) I just pray she returns. But I fear… (He does not finish the sentence.)
(They exit)
SCENE II: The Watchers
(Claire emerges from the trees into a dark, leaf-choked track. She looks back at where her house was, a mixture of triumph and fear on her face.)
CLAIRE: (To herself, breathing heavily) Finally. They think they can control everything. Now, to find the house.
(She walks a few paces. Suddenly, she stops. The Black Watcher is standing still on the path ahead.)
CLAIRE: (Whispering) Hello?
(The figure doesn’t respond, doesn’t even seem to breathe.)
CLAIRE: (Forcefully clearing her throat) I… I must be hallucinating. It’s too dark.
(When she blinks, or turns away for a split second, The Black Watcher is gone. She hurries on.)
CLAIRE: I’d better hurry up. It’s getting… cold.
(After a few minutes, she sees a house, barely visible through the tangled branches. It is impossibly old, leaning, with a gaping, dark chimney.)
CLAIRE: (Awe and revulsion warring in her voice) That must be it. Frau Trude’s house. It looks like it’s rotting.
(As she approaches the door, she sees The Green Watcher next to the doorframe. Its skin/clothing is a sickly, unnatural green. It doesn’t look at her, but rather at the door. It seems to be waiting. When Claire takes a step closer, the Green Watcher simply slides behind a massive, dead tree. It did not run; it simply vanished.)
CLAIRE: (Pressing her hand to her mouth, shaking her head) Just shadows. I need to be brave.
(She forces herself to look through a dusty window. The view is distorted, but she sees a single shape: a rocking chair, moving slowly, unattended.)
CLAIRE: (Takes a deep breath and knocks sharply. Her knuckles feel suddenly bruised.)
(A voice, sweet and soft, yet impossibly deep, like velvet stretched over stone, comes from inside.)
FRAU TRUDE: (Calmly) Come in, dear. I was expecting you, Claire.
(Claire shivers, but curiosity wins. She pushes the heavy, scraping door open and steps inside.)
SCENE III: The Hearth
(The room is simple, but the fire in the huge stone chimney is aggressively bright, almost blinding. Frau Trude is in the rocking chair, her back mostly to Claire. She is dressed in a simple, oddly colorless dress, and her hair is thick and black.)
CLAIRE: (Closing the door, the sound of the latch a heavy thud) How did you know my name?
FRAU TRUDE: (Rocking, without turning) Close the door, dear. And don’t stand there in the draft. Come and sit. The fire needs to be attended to.
(Claire obeys, her defiance giving way to the oppressive atmosphere. She sits on a small stool near the hearth.)
FRAU TRUDE: (Turns her head just enough for Claire to see a sliver of her face. Her eyes are enormous and unsettlingly clear.) You look so… fresh. Are you afraid, little kindling?
CLAIRE: No. Of course not. (She glances back at the door) I… I saw some odd things outside on the path.
FRAU TRUDE: (Turns fully now. Her smile is slow and chilling) Oh, you did? Tell me. What did your clever eyes see?
CLAIRE: A figure. Black. Hidden in the trees. And then one… green, by the door. I was quite frightened.
FRAU TRUDE: Ha, ha, ha. That’s just the old woods playing tricks. A bit of soot. A splash of moss. We all see things, don’t we?
(Frau Trude rises, slowly, effortlessly. She is much taller than Claire. She moves behind the girl.)
CLAIRE: (Her voice thin now, panicked) And… and when I was looking at the house… I saw another one! He was all red. Blood-red.
FRAU TRUDE: (Placing a hand on Claire’s shoulder.) A red man? Well, that must have been… the last bit of flame fading from a hungry fire. Tell me, Claire. What did you see in my window?
(Claire stands, trembling. She is closer to the fire than to the door.)
CLAIRE: I saw… I looked through the glass, and I saw a thing! A shape! Horrible! Right here, where I’m standing now!
FRAU TRUDE: (Steps closer, her face in the shifting firelight. The false sweetness is gone, replaced by a terrible, hungry joy.) Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
(Frau Trude’s transformation begins: it is not a sudden magic trick, but a slow, agonizing stretching. Her spine elongates, her jaw drops, her eyes become pits of swirling ash. The voice that emerges is not female, but a booming, scraping sound.)
FRAU TRUDE (TRUE VOICE): (Loud, terrifying) The horrible beast you saw, child, was ME! The real me! The ME that needs light! And heat! Ha, ha, ha, ha! I have been waiting for your kindling for a long, long time!
CLAIRE: (Screaming) No! Get away! Please!
(Claire tries to bolt, but Frau Trude’s hand shoots out, grasping her wrist. The touch is paralyzing.)
FRAU TRUDE (TRUE VOICE): You were the one who came looking for me! You disobeyed them! The woods brought you right to my door, my little spark!
CLAIRE: (Desperate, thrashing) I want to go home! Let me go!
FRAU TRUDE (TRUE VOICE): It is too late! They warned you not to come. And what did you do? You came anyway! Oh, sweet little log… if you had only obeyed your parents!
(Frau Trude throws Claire to the ground near the hearth. The fire roars with unnatural anticipation.)
FRAU TRUDE (TRUE VOICE): (Stretching her hand toward Claire, the hand now claw-like) Now! You will give me light! AVRAMARE! CLOCK HOOD! Turn the fool into a block of wood!
(A flash of green light—the color of the Green Watcher—fills the stage. A single, sickening crunch sound is heard. The stage goes dark. When the light returns, a smooth, featureless block of wood lies where Claire was. Frau Trude picks it up with a serene, almost maternal look on her face.)
FRAU TRUDE: (Her voice returns to the original, sweet, deep tone) There. Such a nice, neat block.
(She tosses the block of wood into the roaring fire. The fire immediately leaps up, twice as high, intensely bright. A great, satisfied sighing sound comes from the chimney.)
FRAU TRUDE: (Sitting back down in the rocking chair, basking in the terrible warmth) Ha, ha, ha, ha. How bright the block made the fire! It hasn’t burned like this for a long time. Now my powers will get stronger. I can smell the next spark already…
(Frau Trude rocks slowly, staring into the flame.)
In this story, Claire’s tragic choice reminds us that the line between bravery and recklessness is thin—and often invisible until it’s too late. Her story becomes a warning for all who underestimate the wisdom of those who love them. Evil often hides beneath a gentle smile, and curiosity without caution can lead to one’s own destruction.
The End
Author: Brothers Grimm
Adapted by: K I D S I N C O
Moral of the story: Never ignore wise advice, for curiosity without caution can lead to ruin.
Moral Values:
- Obedience: Listening to parental guidance can protect us from unseen dangers.
- Wisdom: Experience carries lessons worth trusting.
- Self-Control: Not every mystery needs to be explored.
- Consequences: Every action, even a bold one, has a price.
👉 Explore our full collection of free play scripts for kids, perfect for classroom performances
👉 Discover More About Frau Trude and Grimm’s World. If you enjoyed The Witch’s Fire: The Tale of Frau Trude, explore the origins of this mysterious story and the world of the Brothers Grimm. The links below offer fascinating insights into the history, meanings, and moral lessons behind classic fairy tales.
- Grimm Brothers Biography – Britannica – Learn about Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the authors behind many of the world’s most famous fairy tales.
- Grimm Brothers Biography – Britannica – Learn about Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the authors behind many of the world’s most famous fairy tales.
This play script, “The Witch’s Fire: The Tale of Frau Trude,” is the property of Kidsinco and may not be republished, copied, or distributed on any other website, blog, forum, or social media platform without written permission from Kidsinco. It is intended for personal and educational use only.
Thank you for visiting Kidsinco Free Play Scripts for Kids!