By Mrs Bezzer (English Teacher)

Having studied Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the start of the year with Year 9 students, it was with great excitement and anticipation that the English Department noted a screening of the National Theatre’s production of this modern tragedy was set for Friday 3rd February at our local Quarry Theatre.  Year 9 students were duly invited to attend the screening, and some of our IB students in the Lower Sixth also settled in for an evening in Salem last Friday night.

Miller’s play, set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 but first performed in 1953, sets out in Miller’s own words, to dramatise ‘the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history’. Written at a time of significant social and political volatility, against the backdrop of anti-communist sentiment in America as epitomised by McCarthyism, the play is – in the words of Miller himself – an exploration of ‘something very fundamental in the human animal: the fear of the unknown, and particularly the dread of social isolation’.

Directed by Lyndsey Turner, and starring Yerma’s Brendon Cowell as troubled soul John Proctor and The Crown’s Erin Doherty as the infamous Abigail Williams, this production dramatises the story of ‘a group of young women in Salem [who] suddenly find their words have an almighty power. As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial.’

Year 9 and Lower Sixth students alike enjoyed their trip to the theatre to see this show. Jasmine Noor (Year 9) was struck by the innovative setting of the play: “I liked how the play combined modern technology on stage with the historical plot and setting of the play. I also liked the music, which was both haunting and beautiful and really reflected the story.”

Read the full student reflections here.