Susan Glaspell wrote one-act play titled Trifles. It was first performed on August 8,1916 at the Wharf Theatre in Massachusetts by Provincetown Players. Glaspell played as Mrs. Hale in the original performance. The play starts when men and women enter the empty farmhouse of the Wrights.
Mr. Hale and others are looking for a piece of evidence against Mrs. Wright of the death of Mr. Wright the previous day. Mrs. Hale and the women who are with her saw evidence; a dead canary while the men cannot find one. The women learned that the bird was killed by Mr. Wright that triggers Mrs. Wright to kill him. They (women) also learned that Mrs. Wright was abused by his husband and decided to keep the evidence to spare her for the punishment.