The Crucible (May 5-14, 2011)

A Drama by Arthur Miller

Winner of the 1953 Tony Award for best play, this exciting drama about the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem, Massachusetts, is both a gripping historical play, and a timely parable of our contemporary society. The plays shows how small lies — children’s lies — build and build, until a whole town is aroused and nineteen men and women go to the gallows for being possessed of the Devil. After a servant girl maliciously accuses a farmer’s young wife of witchcraft, the farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie. The ensuing thrilling, blood-curdling, and terrifying trial scene, with its depiction of bigotry and deceit, hurtles the characters to a sad and ironic conclusion. Miller wrote the play after he was hauled before the House Committee on Un-American Activities on charges of being a Communist.

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