It focuses on John Proctor, the essentially good but flawed farmer tormented in his struggle to work out right from wrong and act accordingly, but whose destiny propels the tale to its tragic conclusion.
This powerful play, a study of intolerance, fear, and the abuse of unjust power, retells the story of Salem through the eyes of those at the centre of the maelstrom. Within weeks dozens of people are in jail, and by the time the fever has run its course, nineteen people (and two dogs) have been hanged for witchcraft. Old grudges and jealousies add to the atmosphere of hysteria and the Massachusetts judicial system, heavily influenced by religion, rolls into action. Before long the girls accuse other villagers of consorting with the Devil and casting spells. In extremely religious Puritan New England, such frightening occurrences are attributed to the Devil and the sickness spurs fears of witchcraft. В A L.A.Early in 1692, in the small Massachusetts village of Salem, a number of girls fall ill, victims of hallucinations and seizures. Most moving is Stacy Keach as John Proctor, who fights to salvage some good from the trials that destroy Salem."
The young girls playing at witchcraft shriek in irregular counterpoint to the quiet, terrifying judgments rendered by Reverend Harris (Michael York), and doubt is ever more audible in the voice of Reverend Hale (Richard Dreyfuss). The star-studded cast ratchets the tension to a disturbing level as the town disintegrates. In a searing portrait of a community engulfed by panic - withВ ruthless prosecutors, and neighbors eager to testify against neighbor - The Crucible famously mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria that held the United States in its grip in the 1950’s.Īudiofile Magazine review: "At once an allegory of the 1950s' anti-communist witch hunts and a spotlight on seventeenth-century witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, this play shows how ignorance and good intentions can interweave to destroy lives. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. Richard Dreyfuss and Stacy Keach stars in Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible, a central work in the canon of American drama that remains required reading in most high school and college English courses.
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