The Crucible at the National Theatre review: ‘Truly terrifying’

Has there ever been a better-acted or better-staged production of The Crucible than the one currently playing at the National Theatre? And has there ever been a better-written play than Arthur Miller’s 1953 masterpiece?

It runs for nearly three hours, yet there’s not an ounce of fat on its bones. Every character is perfectly drawn, every scene finely shaped, every dramatic beat expertly timed. It’s a bona fide masterpiece, masterfully directed by Lyndsey Turner in this atmosphere-soaked revival.

It’s also truly terrifying, timed (perhaps coincidentally) for Halloween season as a bunch of girls in 1692 Salem accuse the local townswomen of witchcraft. A court is formed to try them, with the caveat that they must confess and thus besmirch their names or maintain their innocence and hang.

But is there really witchcraft afoot amidst these mothers, housewives, housemaids and nurses? Why is the Reverend Samuel Parris determined to see them executed? Why is married farmer John Proctor in thrall to chief accuser Abigail Williams? And are Abigail and her schoolmates making the whole thing up to hide their own dabblings with the paranormal?

Miller originally wrote the play as an allegory for the McCarthy witch hunts, when US Senator Joseph McCarthy waged war on suspected communists. In a world where everyone has a platform to speak their truth, however specious that ‘truth’ may actually be, the story has scary contemporary resonance. And the theme of political intractability, where Salem and its surrounding area’s judges and officials won’t entertain the slightest sliver of dissent or debate, chimes chillingly with a current political climate in which our Prime Minister denounces anyone who disagrees with her as ‘enemies of growth’.

In Turner’s revival there’s a foreboding curtain of rain at the front of the stage (rain macs are handed out to first row ticket-holders) before the first act and between scenes and the set is minimalist, made up mostly of chairs and tables under a huge canopy of light. Designer Es Devlin and lighting designer Tim Lutkin work in deep shadows from which the actors emerge and in which evil may well be lurking.

Said actors are all outstanding, with Brendan Cowell’s John and Erin Doherty’s Abigail especially affecting and Karl Johnson bringing some much-needed comic relief as sceptical old-timer Giles Corey, until Giles is also sucked into this whirlpool of accusation.

It differs from previous productions in its use of American accents and costumes that collate shirts and smocks from different bygone eras rather than rooting the story specifically in the 1690s. But the director has cast-iron faith in the story itself, telling it as it should be told – as a cautionary tale and a horror fable with moments, such as when the schoolgirls go into bewitched spasms, that send shivers down the spine.

Rating: 5/5

The Crucible is at the National Theatre, London, until 5 November. For more information visit nationaltheatre.org.uk and for great deals on tickets and shows click here.