The Crucible

I know it’s a classic but I hadn't ever seen The Crucible performed before.  Of course the NT Olivier has the opportunity for dramatic stagings, and the water cascading on to the stage as we entered got things off to a spectacular start.  I was pleased we were up in the gods rather than my frequent cheap front row option though, when I saw the waterproofs being handed out!

I wasn't at all sure if I would like it - some 'classic' plays can be a bit too worthy, weighed down with their own self importance, and this one comes with its own trolley load of significance, so I deliberately hadn't read any reviews in case they put me off.   

 The play is based around the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s, and was written as Arthur Miller's commentary on the McCarthy era and the activities of the Un-American Activities Committee.  The action starts with single accusation to deflect blame and settle a score which swiftly spirals, capturing and then devouring everyone its path.  It was beautifully paced in this production, with space being found to allow the occasional joke to come through, making it even more gruelling when we found ourselves back in the next level of accusations, conspiracy theories, confirmation bias, and mob rule, all being given the gloss of rationality by the legal processes being followed.   The links with Trumpism, Brexit, anti-vax and other conspiracy theories and culture wars are clear enough without any need to hammer them home so it was good that the production didn't try.  The play would work just as well if any of the moral panics that have appeared over the last half century (rock and roll, feminism, gay and aids panics, multiculturalism, the current fuss about transgender rights)  were placed as the trigger point, rather than the witchcraft here. The placing of a moral panic as a scapegoat to deflect from whatever are the real ills of the society of the time is so accurately drawn here.  

The common sense shown by John Proctor from the start, and the journey of Reverend John Hale as the conscience of the play, from supporting the initial mob rule, to understanding that he has enabled the hounding and destruction of innocent people is all the more painful by the way that it is ignored, and rationalised away - the prosecutors in their own echo chamber, unable to see any other way through. No solutions to be found in this play though, just a baring of the nasty reality of the mob mentality that humans are capable of, justifying the most appalling behaviour on an idea that has to be protected even in the face of reality.  One of the things that is always a bit uncomfortable in any of these moral dilemma plays is wondering where I would sit in this spectrum.  I hope I would be a John or Elizabeth Proctor and stand against the mob and as an ally and defender of the victims, but the easy option is to side with the mob, or at least just stay quiet, even if you recognise the nonsense.  This feels like a real question to be faced at the moment.  

So, on to the production - haven't got anything to compare it with, but the cast were all great - special call outs to Fisayo Akinade who played John Hale and Rachelle Diedericks playing Mary Warren, who had to convincingly show their different growing understandings that they had picked the wrong sides.  Brendan Cowell and Eileen Walsh had to be the stable moral heart of the play as the Proctors, which is a tough ask, particularly as they are allowed to be flawed, and I found their final scene to be really moving.  The spare set worked really well, to ensure the moral dilemmas were placed centre stage, but apart from it being a spectacular way to change acts I really don't get the rainfall - are we suppose to think about biblical floods, baptism, or elemental forces of nature that can't be held back?  Still confused by that, but it looked and sounded spectacular so maybe that is enough.

I got home, and did a quick online search for Fisayo Akinade who I already knew from Heartstopper (see my earlier gushings on that here).  To my horror I found there was a live twitter witch-hunt going on at that moment, with a misunderstanding of a tweet, accusations and offence being taken, people who try to calm and clarify being dragged into the maelstrom, with the current result that another of the beautiful young cast of Heartstopper had been bullied off twitter, and leaving the young fans, who were caught up while trying to avoid taking sides, distressed and confused.   A small scale example maybe, and these things pass as did the witch trials at Salem, but they cause real damage to real people, regardless of the nonsense at the heart.  Human nature ....nothing ever really changes.

That all makes it sound a bit serious, and the issues the play raises certainly feel really urgent at the moment.  I can see why it is regarded as a masterpiece, but one of the reasons it is a masterpiece is because it is so engaging and not at at all preachy. So, this is well worth seeing - highly recommended.