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.
Ivo van Hove's Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's 1953 Salem witch trial drama/political allegory 'The Crucible' is so bewildering that I hardly know where to start. That being said, the production is, more often than not, absorbing and blazing with intensity...More importantly, why does one of the young girls levitate in the air at one point? Why does the set fall apart at a climactic moment? Is van Hove suggesting that the girls really do have supernatural abilities? Or, more likely, is this all just striking but overblown and overindulgent imagery?...These are all great actors, but they achieve uneven results in this twisted environment. Whishaw comes across as too weak and lacks chemistry with the fully aggressive Okonedo. Ronan and Hinds are so assured and terrifying in the predator roles that it's no surprise to see Camp and Harner looking so shaken up and helpless.
There are two types of audience members attending Ivo van Hove's The Crucible: those who take their seats and, when the curtain rises, wonder, Why's it set in a classroom? and the other half (please let it be more than half) that nods and thinks, Of course it's in a classroom. Van Hove's electrifying and audacious staging achieves what more revivals should: It makes old work seem new, blows away the dust and exposes caulked cracks...Miller's masterpiece, still a model of post-Ibsenite drama, holds up: Society is forever torn between preserving its power structures and extending freedoms. Those caught in the middle pay the highest price...the cast is ridiculously stuffed with talent...The country beyond the walls of the Walter Kerr may be damned, but inside, Van Hove is wrestling with the angels.
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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