In 1953, when the play was first performed, the United States were deep in the throes of the Red Scare. Senator Joseph McCarthy led a witch hunt against supposed communists, targeting various celebrities, government officials, and even writers and actors, many of whom were blacklisted because of their alleged ties to the Communist party. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on un-American activities in 1959 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.

The Crucible, an ellegory of McCarthyism, is a historical play based on events of the Salem Witch Trials. It is set in a small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692/93, a time when paranoia, hysteria, and deceit gripped the Puritan town of New England. Repressive Puritan theology, which drives a group of young girls to accuse others of witchcreft to distract from their own sins and desires, sparks off a massive witch hunt and trials in which innocent people are convicted on filmsy evidence, just as they were during the Red Scare.

Cast

Original casting saw Wolfgang Peschat as Ezekiel Cheever and Alfred Ortmayr as Deputy-Governor Danforth. Due to the sudden illness of Mr. Ortmayr the roles were re-cast as above.

Crew