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.
...despite the sprawling locations of Miller's story, all the action feels unforced into one big country schoolroom...Ronan -- blond, unbridled and unrecognizable from the gentle brunette in her Oscar-nominated film, 'Brooklyn' -- plays Abigail with the duplicity of a malevolent surfer-girl. Whishaw, as good-but-flawed John Proctor, is more low-key and less heroic than was Liam Neeson in the 2002 revival. Okonedo is quietly forceful -- and ultimately heartbreaking -- as John's wife, accused of witchcraft so Abigail can get her husband, and Hinds is aptly imperious as the pious, self-serving deputy-governor...Although van Hove resists even a hint of cheap contemporary resonance, the village characters in their everyday work clothes connect the dots for us. This is not to suggest that van Hove resists a few outrageous and entertaining touches of the hyper-theatrical.
For the sixth time on Broadway, it's the season of the witch. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, his raw if hyperbolic reenactment of the deadly Salem Witch Trials, struck a nerve when it first premiered in 1953 as a scorching condemnation of the House Un-American Activities Committee, then in the process of uprooting communists via innuendo, scare-mongering, and intimidation. The play's easy-to-understand themes of mob mentality and mass hysteria have made it Miller's most produced work (especially in high schools and colleges), yet in all honesty, the piece is somewhat flat when considered outside the allegory for McCarthyism. As a theatrical experience in 2016, The Crucible needs freshening up.
| 1953 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1958 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1964 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1972 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1990 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1991 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| 2002 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| 2016 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
| 2019 | Off-Broadway |
Bedlam's Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 2023 | West End |
West End |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Bill Camp |
| 2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music in a Play | Philip Glass |
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Sophie Okonedo |
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Ben Whishaw |
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Arthur Miller |
| 2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Ben Whishaw |
| 2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Jim Norton |
| 2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or off-Broadway) | The Crucible |
| 2016 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jan Versweyveld |
| 2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Bill Camp |
| 2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Sophie Okonedo |
| 2016 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Arthur Miller's The Crucible |
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