Jimmy watches Countdown and tries to ignore his bills, grief, COPD and frailty. Meanwhile, his carer walks a tightrope between kindness and reality
Latest editorial
No real catharsis offered
This production’s bland ‘let’s not offend anybody’ approach could not be less appropriate in a work with such piercing and targeted acumen, writes MARY CONWAY
(L to R) Sophia Brown (Tituba), Fisayo Akinade (Rev. Hale), Alastair Parker (Thomas Putnam), Martin Johnston (Ensemble) and Zoe Aldrich (Ann Putnam)
[Johan Persson]
JOHN FLINT explores the Appleby Blue development, winner of the Stirling prize 2025
GORDON PARSONS enjoys the wealth of wisdom and the clarity of expression from a dialogue between Chomsky and Mujica
GUILLERMO THOMAS enjoys a survey of the current state of the CIA (aka Langley) from an expert and insider of sorts
MARIA DUARTE, FIONA O CONNOR and JOHN GREEN review The Choral, Belen, Dragonfly, and Colossal Wreck
WILL STONE is frustrated by a performance that chooses to garble the lyrics and drown the songs in reverb
RITA DI SANTO points out the social experience of exploitation and oppression that inform the popular winners at this year’s festival
The Crucible
National Theatre
PLAYWRIGHT Arthur Miller is a towering figure of the 20th century. The Crucible is one reason why.
Written in 1953, the play transports us to late 17th-century Massachusetts and the infamous Salem witch trials. It’s a magnificent tale, rooted in those early years of the American dream when the quest for religious tolerance and individual freedom clashed with the tyranny of the big idea and the spawning of new authority figures. The quintessential struggle between those who would impose order and obedience and those who instinctively fragment it is the source of all frenzy here.
Similar stories
MAYER WAKEFIELD is gripped by a production dives rapidly from champagne-quaffing slick to fraying motormouth
MAYER WAKEFIELD wonders why this 1978 drama merits a revival despite demonstrating that the underlying theme of racism in the UK remains relevant
MARY CONWAY applauds a worthy revival of the US 1939 classic drama that studies the dehumanising consequences of affluence
PETER MASON is moved by a striking production of Noel Streatfeild’s enduringly popular children’s book