2011-12 SEASON

Winner of the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play, this exciting drama about the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem is both a gripping historical play and a timely parable of our contemporary society.  Arthur Miller draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch trials and the McCarthyism which gripped the nation in the 1950’s.  The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie - and it is here that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted. Culminating in a violent climax, “The Crucible” is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.