The town’s mumbling witchcraft.

Abigail: Oh, posh! Winningly she comes a little closer, with a confidential, wicked air. We were dancin’ in the woods last night, and my uncle leaped in on us. She took fright, is all.

Since we have the benefit of history, we know that the Salem witch trials resulted in the accusation of about 200 people and the execution of about twenty. Smithsonian Magazine notes that “the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice.” Thus, the girls’ activities in the woods lead to erroneous conclusions that a modern reader finds shocking. Miller could have written a scene in the woods to drive home that whatever they were doing, witchcraft had no impact on anyone in the story.

John Proctor apparently sees the witchcraft issue as foolish. When John is with his wife and Reverend Hale, Elizabeth tells John that he must tell Hale what Abigail said.

Proctor, with difficulty: I—I have no witness and cannot prove it, except my word be taken. But I know the children’s sickness had naught to do with witchcraft.

Hale, stopped, struck: Naught to do—?

Proctor: Mr. Parris discovered them sportin' in the woods. They were startled and took sick.

Pause.

Hale: Who told you this?

Proctor, hesitates, then: Abigail Williams.

Hale: Abigail!

Proctor: Aye.

Hale, his eyes wide: Abigail Williams told you it had naught to do with witchcraft! ...

Proctor: I never knew until tonight that the world is gone daft with this nonsense.

Hale: Nonsense! Mister, I have myself examined Tituba, Sarah Good, and numerous others that have confessed to dealing with the Devil. They have confessed it.

From these lines, it is clear that the girls have confessed to engaging in witchcraft and, shockingly, that Reverend Hale believes this. Reading this through a modern lens, we find it difficult to believe that any of the Salem adults would really have taken this seriously. Thus, using the details the girls provide, Miller might have gone into details of the scene in the woods to made it clear how futile and foolish the witchcraft accusations were.

In other words, he could have shown that their so-called witchcraft was nothing more than chanting and mumbling meaningless words that did nothing. He could then have made it clear that Betty’s falling ill had nothing to do with what the girls were doing in the woods and that their words had no impact on Elizabeth Proctor either.

Miller could have written the actual scene of the girls in the woods in such a way that we see them dancing, which likely would have been considered sinful in that time, laughing, and engaging in indiscreet discussions. Miller could have included dialogue showing Abigail’s desire to have Elizabeth Proctor out of the way so that John would be free.

However, Miller could have given us a split stage, with the dancing, laughing girls on one side (stage right) and Elizabeth Proctor on the other (stage left), perfectly healthy with no reaction whatsoever to what the girls were doing in the woods.

Abigail admits to the Reverend Parris, "Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it." The audience knows that some of the girls danced, that Mary Warren stood to the side and watched them, and that Mercy Lewis was naked. There was a pot over a fire, and Miller might have had the girls following Tituba's lead in moving their bodies in a traditional West African rhythmic dance around it. Abigail also confesses, when Reverend Hale questions her, that a frog ended up in the cauldron, and Miller could show Abigail or one of the other girls tossing it in. Tituba confesses to conjuring the spirits of the Putnam infants, and Miller could describe her chanting and moving her body in a ritual as she summons them back from the dead. Abigail tells Hale that it was Tituba who summoned the devil, and both Abigail and Parris describe Tituba speaking "gibberish," screeching, and singing island songs. Barbados's religious traditions before the arrival of Christianity were like those of West Africa, and Tituba's belief in spirits and magic could look very natural for her and quite exotic contrasted with the repressive religious traditions the girls of Salem were steeped in: a capella and unison singing of psalms and long sermons that allowed no interaction.

Betty reminds Abigail that "You drank blood, Abby, you drank blood!" in the woods the night before, and Tituba confesses to Hale and Parris: "chicken blood, I give she chicken blood!" Miller could describe the scene in the woods to include the slaughter of a chicken, which could be strung up and exsanguinated from a tree branch as the girls look on in thrall.

Throughout the Prologue, Miller introduces the setting of the play and provides insight into the nature of Salem's population. Salem is an extremely strict community, where individuals are forced to repress their emotions in order to maintain positive reputations. Holiness is revered, and the citizens believe "they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world." The wilderness is considered the "Devil's last preserve," and children were expected to be completely obedient. During Act One, Tituba, Abigail, and Betty all admit that they were dancing in the woods together. It is also confirmed that Tituba was speaking in her native dialect to conjure the spirits of Mrs. Putnam's dead children. The audience also learns that Abigail drank blood in order to curse Elizabeth Proctor, and Mercy Lewis was running around naked in the forest. Miller would likely give a description of how uninhibited and free the children felt as they danced around Tituba in the forest. Their sense of liberty and excitement would be palpable as they willingly engaged in the taboo behavior. Abigail's hate for Elizabeth and lust for John Proctor would also be described as she drank the blood. Tituba would experience feelings of control and power as she spoke various incantations. Miller would likely describe Betty as another thrilled participant until Reverend Parris made himself known.

I think that a key insight into how Miller envisions both the first act and the entire drama can be seen in his extensive stage directions which end up operating as more of a background into Salem.  I think that it comes across that Miller sees Salem as an example of how people in the position of power were able to recognize the opportunity in front of them to seize control and wield it for their own benefits.  In the stage directions, Miller details how the people of Salem were convinced of their own authenticity, "lighting the torch" that others were to see.  At the same time, Miller speaks of "the predilection for minding other people's business" as well as how children were not permitted to truly be children.  

In these examples, Miller is able to see how the conditions were ripe for charismatic individuals to seize the moment for their own benefit.  Abigail, if nothing else, is charismatic enough to see how she can generate an entire town's hysteria through the accusations of witchcraft.  Miller is able to recognize the disparity between the accusation and the desire to maintain power as a result of making it.  In this, Miller is able to view the gap between political rule constructing fear in the body politic and immensely benefiting from it as a result.  In this, Miller is able to construct the first act as something in which the scene helps to illuminate this condition of political and social being.