Cast

Synopsis

Arthur Miller’s award winning play is profoundly powerful in its message, as a stage play, and as a piece of literature.

This riveting drama, based on real events in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, is both a gripping historical play about the Puritan purge of witch-craft and also a timely parable of contemporary society showing how lies escalate. In an attempt to cover up their own dabblings in the occult, a group of girls led by Abigail, ‘cry out’ against other people in the town, accusing them of witch-craft. The town is soon gripped by fear and dread; nobody knows where the finger of suspicion will point next. The play focuses on a farmer, his wife and a young servant girl who maliciously causes the wife’s arrest for witchcraft. Desperate to clear his wife’s name, the farmer attempts to convince the court of her innocence, but instead he finds himself accused….

Directors Notes

In 2009 I appeared in a production of ‘The Crucible’ at Ilkley Playhouse which later transferred to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall. I have always admired Miller’s work and the experience was hugely rewarding and literally quite magical as we sat overlooking the sea at Porthcurno waiting to make our entrances.

Fast forward 12 years and the opportunity of directorship has afforded me the chance to look at the play from a different perspective. Having been directed by my father in the Ilkley version, he has joined me in this venture as the set designer, creating a representational and symbolic space for the actors to work in. The cast and backstage team have all collaborated with me to bring this challenging and thought provoking piece of theatre to life.

The Crucible is widely regarded as one of the greatest American plays of all time. Written as a parable of 1950s McCarthyism, it retells the true story of the Salem witch trials and resonates as strongly today as it did when first performed over 60 years ago. Can we look at the play now and see it as something merely in the distant past without looking at those groups of society that are being persecuted now?

The Puritan community of Salem in 1692 was ruled by the church, divided by arguments over property and land and intolerant of anyone that deviated from ‘the norm’. In the midst of an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia, a group of girls took possession of the town with tragic consequences. Hysteria took hold and the most vulnerable were targeted.

Tonight, we step into that world.