Thurs 22nd - Sat 24th and Tues 27th April to Sat 1st May 2010
Directed by Sian Green
In 1692 puritan America the small town of Salem is whipped into a frenzy of hysteria. After being found dancing in the woods with other young girls of the town, Abigail Williams begins a path of moral destruction; accusing her fellow townspeople of witchcraft and dark magic. She will stop at nothing to take revenge, dragging up secrets from her past along the way.
When The Crucible opened in 1953 at the Martin Beck Theatre, it came under attack for not living up to the standard of Miller's previous play; Death of a Salesman. The New York Times stated that 'The Crucible is not of that stature and it lacks that universality'’. Miller put this down to the production itself, which he felt had been presented coldly and in an overly stylised manner. Nevertheless, later that year Miller was awarded the 'Best Play' Tony award and ever since The Crucible has continued to cement its position as one of the great theatre classics. Arguably Miller’s best work, The Crucible is certainly his most widely performed and is now part of curricula worldwide because of its historical, political, theatrical and moral influence.
| Abigail Williams | Charley Callaway |
| Betty Parris | Nadia Diaper |
| Elizabeth Proctor | Alice Corrigan |
| Ezekiel Cheever | Jeff Bone |
| Franics Nurse | Pete Woodward |
| George Herrick | Jack Cronin |
| Giles Corey | Jaspar Utley |
| John Proctor | Damon Wakelin |
| Judge Danforth | Roger Wallsgrove |
| Judge Hathorne | Alan Welton |
| Mary Warren | Fern Bicheno |
| Mercy Lewis | Beth Evans |
| Mr Putnam | Terry Smyth |
| Mrs Putnam | Diana Wallsgrove |
| Rebecca Nurse | Ingrid Corrigan |
| Reverend Parris | Mark Wakeman |
| Reverend Hale | Dan Finch |
| Sarah Good | Zoe Chapman |
| Susunna Walcott | Claire Lyne |
| Director | Sian Green |
| Producer | Mark Wakeman |
| Stage Manager | Sally Hartley |
I've been racking my brains in an attempt to put my love for The Crucible into words. I studied the play for my GCSE in drama and learnt so much from it. Not only did it teach me about the world of theatre but also about humankind. It taught me about the nature of acting; that an audience should be more than just a spectator to self-indulgence. The play tells a harrowing story in which the small town of Salem is slowly taken over by mass hysteria. The morals are not particularly heart-warming ones – we are shown how a majority will nearly always overpower an individual, regardless of moral prevalence. But it is true to life and all the more enticing for this fact.