Arthur Miller’s classic, The Crucible, has been confirmed for a new adaptation at the Old Vic later this year, bringing the ups and downs of the Salem witch trials to the West End. It’s been more than sixty years now since the play first premiered in 1953 at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway and while McCarthyism is now a long dead, antiquated and derided footnote in US history, it’s good to get a reminder of the nature of oppression every now and again.
Richard Armitage, who you might recognise as Thorin Oakenshield in the Peter Jackson adaptation of The Hobbit, has been cast as the lead role of John Proctor. The rest of the cast is made up of Samantha Colley as Abigail Williams, Anna Madeley (In Bruges) as John’s wife Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Niles as the slave Tituba, Rebecca Saire as Ann Putnam, and Zara White as Mercy Lewis.
Yaёl Farber directs the production, which is described as a re-imagining of Arthur Miller’s original play, and Soutre Gilmour will be in charge of design. If the image above, and Richard Armitage’s casting is anything to go by, The Crucible at the Old Vic is likely to be one of the most impressive theatre outings of the year.
Set to open at the Old Vic on Tuesday the 24th June 2014, and running through until Saturday the 13th September 2014, it’s apparently a visceral re-imagining of the original play. The performances will be on Monday to Saturday at 7:30pm with 2:30pm matinee shows every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. Ticket prices have a pretty brought mix of options starting from £10 and going up to £16, £21, £30, £45 and £55.
The play is set during the witch trials in the Puritan New England town of Salem, Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693 as accusations of witchcraft spread like wildfire throughout the town. Lust, superstition, land and money all intertwine as motives for the escalating situation in the stoic protestant community.
However, the storyline was written by Miller as an allegory on the institutionalised intolerance and often unfounded accusations levied at US citizens for association with communism and other “un-American” activities as a part of McCarthyism in the early 1950s. It was a political topic close to Arthur Miller’s heart as he had seen first hand the victimisation that took place during the height of the Second Red Scare.
He also went on to be questioned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 before being convicted of “contempt of Congress” for refusing to identify people at meetings he had attended.
The parallel story bridges the old and new reality of the situations, with Miller implying that history was repeating itself, and in so doing he reiterates that it could easily happen again with equally ugly results unless we speak out against intolerance and oppression. It’s for this reason that the new production of The Crucible at the Old Vic is fast becoming one of the most eagerly awaited plays of 2014.
