It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the U.S. government blacklisted accused communists.
Starring Ben Whishaw as John Proctor, Tony winner Sophie Okonedo as his wife Elizabeth Proctor, Saoirse Ronan as Abigail Williams, and Ciaran Hinds as Deputy-Governor Danforth.
The production will be directed by Ivo van Hove, and will have scenic and lighting design by longtime van Hove collaborator Jan Versweyveld, costume design by Wojciech Dziedzic, and an original score by Philip Glass. Additional casting and design team will be announced at a later date.
And van Hove (working with the choreographer Stephen Hoggett) does wonderful things with his staging...If van Hove's directorial choices generally support and enliven the text, and force us to see it fresh, it's not because he has abandoned his avant-garde armamentarium. This Crucible features plenty of his signature flourishes, some more effective than others...Ben Whishaw and Sophie Okonedo, as the Proctors, give wrenching performances, shorn of vanity, as if the play's message of communal guilt had infected them personally...Saoirse Ronan as Abigail suggests no real excuse for her cold manipulations: She just shines with maleficence.
The fire-starter is 17-year-old Abigail Williams (Saoirse Ronan), impelled at least in part by her anger at John Proctor's refusal to resume their brief sexual relationship. That pivotal core of passion isn't given much emphasis. Whishaw underplays for much of the evening, while Ronan - one of Hollywood's current 'It' girls following her performance in the film 'Brooklyn' - gives a fierce but emotionally opaque performance in her stage debut.
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