Stylish Restaging of The Crucible is All Show and No Substance, According to Reviews

The Crucible is a tragedy that’s been debated and discussed for many years. Its current running in theaters has received a rather intriguing review. Keep reading to find out more.

Arthur Miller’s classic play about power and power abuse is now played in theaters. The play stars Brendan Cowell in the role of John Proctor and Erin Doherty in the role of Abigail. Reviews on this play have been quite interesting, talking of the incredible acting, but the lack of substance on the scene.

In this article, we’ll discuss The Crucible and its impact today, as well as the review of the play.

The Crucible Taught in Schools

As a play that’s been around for over seven decades now, The Crucible by Arthur Miller has been discussed and debated many times. This play is rich with elements, emotions, and has resulted in some amazing performances that started as early as 1953. If you want or need to write essays for the Crucible, there are many ways to approach this topic. Popular The Crucible essay examples revolve around the themes the author discusses in the play. These are the role of authority, question of social injustice, fear and paranoia, etc.

Generally, The Crucible is one of the most studied plays in the world of education these days. Students study it in high school, college, and even university. They study the link between the play and performances, the meaning of the word “crucible” in the book, as well as write thorough reviews of what the play is all about.

If you are thinking about a play to use to impress your teacher, this is it. Studied in classes all around the world, The Crucible is an intriguing story that will keep you engaged and entertained while working on it.

A Bit of Background on The Crucible

If you haven’t read the play before or watched it in theaters, here is some background information about it. The Crucible is a play by the American playwright Arthur Miller, written back in 1953 and played over and over in theaters around the world. It's a fictionalized and dramatized story of the Salem witch trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the period of 1692 and 1693.

Here comes the main question: how does the word “crucible” relate to the book The Crucible? In this play, “crucible” has the meaning severe test and it is used in the dialogue and the plot. Basically, it speaks of a severe test such as the witch trials discussed in the piece.

The play runs at the National Theatre and its creative team includes Lindsey Turner as the director, As Devlin for the set design, and Catherine Fay for the lighting design.

About the Review of The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s work used the witch trials as an allegory in his piece, aiming toward the McCarthy hysteria. This is an elastic and masterful piece that can potentially accommodate many parables of the modern day. Even so, reviewers state they haven’t seen anything of the sort in the play. It’s all about the original context without any modern elements or substance added to it.

Even though the reviews speak of the lack of substance, their comment is not entirely negative. The reviews praise the work of the artists, the stage, and the interpretation. They believe that this play is faithful to the original and pushes the theme back to Puritan fundamentalism and the search of New Jerusalem.

They proceed to say that The Crucible was a stunner and the actors did a marvelous work in presenting the suspense, the dread, and the horror from the script. Abigail’s passion for John Proctor is destructive, painting a fierce picture of the hysteria of the 17th century in the Massachusetts community.

The strong message is defused with the lines that are spun lightly by the actors with Bostonian accents, adding ripples and laughter in the equation. The review also talks of Abigail, played by Doherty who is full of energy and fearful anger at the same time, making her character appear ‘oddly flat’ on occasion.

Last but not least, the review talks of the lighting effects of Lutkin and how they stay in the mind after the play is over.