Tags

Praise

Description

Set in Salem in 1692, Arthur Miller's classic The Crucible brings to life one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history. Based on the historic witch-hunts and trials of seventeenth-century new England, Miller's drama presents a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence. But the play's enduring vitality owes little to the political and social context in which it was conceived. It stands instead as a classic study of the seductions of power and as powerful testimony of the courage with which some men and women can challenge the ruling orthodoxy. Now, Arthur Miller's most powerful work is back on Broadway in an acclaimed new production starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney and directed by Richard Eyre, who contributes an insightful Foreward to this new edition.