The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Pirton Players,
Wednesday 25th - Saturday 28th March 2026, Pirton Village Hall
A review for the Parish Magazine
Peter Harding
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The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a classic of American literature. This important, subversive and
sometimes banned play with its themes of religion and politics plus undertones of the occult, was
written in 1953 as a warning about, and response to, McCarthyism. Miller drew parallels between
the anti-communist hysteria of the times and the Salem witch trials of 1692 when, as the play’s
director Anton Jungreuthmayer observed, ‘accusations became spectacle and fear a political
tool’.
It was in November 1999 when the Pirton Players first staged the Crucible. As I recall it was a
great success then, so why, more than twenty-five years later, did Anton, who also directed the
play back then, want to take on the challenge of revisiting this epic play? According to his
programme notes today ‘the world seems closer to Salem than it did a generation ago. Online
‘truth’ is claimed and contested … what once spread by whisper now races through feeds and
timelines, gathering credibility before anyone can question its source’.
The play is a high intensity drama which, over three hours, plumbs great emotional depths. The
lead roles are exceptionally demanding. The dialogue is complex and strong acting is required
throughout (both individually and in the many ensemble pieces). In other words The Crucible is a
massive play which presents serious dramatic challenges for any company.
The Pirton Players are to be congratulated for approaching these myriad challenges with gusto.
To my mind they brought the exacting standards we might expect of a professional West End
theatre company to our own Village Hall. It was a remarkably accomplished production and a
compelling and unsettling account.
The show was deservedly sold out for all performances. On entering the auditorium, members of
the audience were immediately immersed in the atmospheric and versatile set with the ‘stage’
(performance area) running laterally across the hall and tiered seating to front and back. Every wall
was draped in black, the lighting low with the initial central focus being some carefully stacked
spot-lit chairs. Sparsely illuminated in blue to either side of the stage was a table with chair and a
bed-frame, the understated whole being contained within a minimalist framework suggestive of a
building extending high into the dark void above.
From the moment the play started the audience could not help but be drawn into the narrative.
The actors who silently emerged from the four corners of the ‘stage,’ wove one about the other in
a mysterious trance-like walking ‘dance’. The women, clad from head to toe in black with only
their faces visible, strongly conveyed the impression of their conservative, narrow, regulated
community. Sitting no more than four rows from the action, it was a world to which we would all
soon be party.
Then, as many of the cast dispersed, silently rearranging the piled chairs as they went, Betty
Parris (stunningly played by Addie Whitelaw), the Reverend Parris’s seemingly bewitched
daughter dressed in a simple white shift which contrasted strongly with the dark hues of the cast
was borne by her friends, high above their heads, her limp form suggestive of a cross, before
being carefully laid upon the waiting bed.
I hope that the above sets the scene for a production in which every detail seems to have been
carefully considered. The lighting was thoughtful, intensifying the drama as required. The sound
scape was both subtle and inspired, the costumes, though not wholly anchored in the
seventeenth century, added hugely to the dramatic impact of the play. The set, as alluded to
above, though minimalist, was inspired (with many thanks to Setter Play).
Every member of the cast gave of their all and with strong performances in abundance it seems
invidious to mention individuals but yet, with apologies to those whom I have omitted, do that I
must.
Phill Brown as John Proctor and Sam Rentell as his wife, Elizabeth Proctor were compelling
throughout - the complexity of their relationship revealed in every detail. Surely I wasn’t the only
one with tears in my eyes at the conclusion of the final, poignant, heart wrenching scene?
Trevor Clark as the representative of civil authority, Judge Danforth, was entirely convincing facing
down the moral challenges presented by religious authority in the form of the excellent Savannah
Mykoo as the Reverend Hale. And all credit must go to Ruby Clark as the feisty, unrepentant and
knowing Abigail Williams.
Alison Gibbs’ sensitive portrayal of Tituba revealed much of the underlying unvoiced hierarchies,
and tensions about identity and the power dynamics within the community whilst Mark Savage
excelled as the conflicted, anxious, at times pompous, Reverend Parris.
Georgie Cole as the fearful Mary Warren, was exceptional. Ann Putnam, played by Debbie
Keating-Jungreuthmayer, put in a great performance opposite her real life husband Anton playing
Thomas Putnam.
And it is to Anton Jungreuthmayer, the director, and to Hannah Bloodworth, the producer (who
also played Mercy Lewis) to whom I should address my final remarks. In your hands, The
Crucible, was nothing short of a triumph setting the bar even higher for successive Pirton Player
productions. This remarkable, complex, passionate and compelling drama is one which those of
us lucky enough to be present will not forget in a hurry. As Anton wrote: ‘Miller’s story
acknowledges how destructive fear can be, but it also shows how acts of integrity can break it’s
momentum . . . not that hysteria can be avoided, but that it can be answered - by clarity, by
courage and by the refusal to let fear decide what is true’.
My congratulations and sincere thanks to all involved in this remarkable production.
