Reviewed by James Karas
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play about witch hunts in late 17th century Salem Massachusetts and about a powerful indictment of 20th century witch hunts conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, (HUAC).
In 1682 in Salem everyone believed or was convinced of the existence of witches and highly educated people set out to eradicate those whose souls were seized by the devil. They proceeded to condemn and hang them unless they confessed their sin. If they confessed their sin, their confession and their name would be posted around the town as a humiliating result.
In the 1940’s and 1950’s HUAC pursued people suspected of being Communists and ruined the careers of countless Americans. The witch hunts for Communists or leftists were very much like the events in Salem however superficially different they may appear.
Arthur Miller refused to “name names” of people that he associated with and were members of the Communist Party or other leftist organizations before the Committee and was jailed for a short time. Most people may know little about the McCarthy era, but Miller’s play remains as relevant and powerful as ever.
At its core, the play is about the delusion of the existence of witches and the ability of educated people to recognize, prove their existence and convict and execute people for being infected by witchcraft.
The protagonist of The Crucible is John Proctor (Gavin Drea) a decent farmer caught in the town’s mass hysteria about witches. The instigators are young girls who were seen dancing, maybe naked, in the fields outside the village. One of them is Betty (Scarlett Nunes) the daughter of the firebrand Reverend Parris (Steve Furst) who is speechless the following morning. The story mushrooms into a huge issue when the insecure Reverent Parris calls an expert in the detection of witches. The Reverend Parris calls Reverend Hale (Jo Stone-Fewimgs), a Harvard educated cleric to examine the situation. He is an intense man who believes he can detect witchcraft.
The town people are basically decent, but some are inevitably greedy and want to acquire more land, preferably from their neighbors. Parris is suspicious and greedy. The situation gets out of hand when Deputy Governor Danforth (Gareth Snook) starts executing people. The complete departure from logic, and descent into delusion has no bounds. The tragedy that all is delusion and hysteria is not considered because the mere thought of it is beyond the ability of the judges and the people to comprehend.
Proctor and Hale
see what is happening and scream that all is fraud but the people in power cannot
make the huge leap from delusional conviction to the world of logic and
thinking.
John Proctor objects to Rev. Parris’ fire and brimstone type of services and does not attend church regularly. He has also committed the sin of lechery by having sex with his servant (and main witch) Abigail (Hannah Saxby). He and his wife Elizabeth (Phoebe Pryce) along with many villagers will stand accused of witchcraft and most will be sentenced to death.
The judges are self-righteous and arrogant. Judge Hathorne (Stuart McQuarrie who also plays the greedy Thomas Putnam) and Deputy Governor Danforth are fighting the devil, the ultimate evil, and they are prepared and convict people of witchcraft and execute them.
The cast
delivers superb performances of a play that is simply terrifying. The young
girls who instigate the panic are superb in their unison screaming and
terrifying accusations of witchcraft. The large space of Shakespeare’s Globe
Theatre provides staging difficulties of its own, but the cast and crew bring
everything together. Director Ola Ince gets the most credit for organizing all
and giving us a superb afternoon at the theatre.
___________________________
The Crucible by Arthur Miller continues until July 12, 2025 at Shakespeare’s
Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, London. www.shakespearesglobe.com/
James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press
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