What's in a name, you ask? Well, if you're John Proctor from "The Crucible," it's absolutely everything ("because I cannot have another in my life!") By the curtain call of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production on the West End, I found myself on the verge of tears...not just fom the emotion of the play's final scene, but from the sheer mastery of the whole production. The acting, set and direction were flawless. There was not one weak link...all elements lived up to the stellar quality and genius that is Arthur Miller. No wonder the production was awarded 5 stars by TimeOut magazine -- something that hardly ever happens. Let's just say that after seeing a few flops here in London, this production has completely restored my faith in the theatre (oh ya, and the lead, Iain Glen, is totally hot).The implications of the story reverberate today. A story about the Salem with trials of 1692, it was meant to be an allegory for the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, of which Miller himself was put on trial 3 years after the play was staged. It still warns against the power of extremism when suspicion alone serves as evidence, and when it becomes more comfortable for a community to buy into hype and hearsay instead of facts and reason.
For some perspective from Arthur Miller himself on why he wrote "The Crucible," check out this essay from a 2002 issue of The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020422fr_archive02
Bravo!
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