MAYER WAKEFIELD is entertained but let down by an audacious production that, sadly, doesn't ring true
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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]
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by drama that, despite accomplished performances, cannot overcome an unfocused script
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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.
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