Theatre: reformed in a crucible
Outstanding: Sadie Soverall as Shelby, right, with Miya James in John Proctor is the Villain
CAMILLA GREENWELL
When the father of a teenager studying The Crucible under a young, church-going, married teacher is accused (off-stage) of sexual harassment, the audience tenses for precisely how Salem 1692-93 will overlap with the America of Jeffrey Epstein.
The biggest literary influence on Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) and both playwrights are now influential enough to provoke younger dramatists to write response or answer plays.
The Norwegian recently suffered Lila Raicek’s My Master Builder (reviewed 17 May 2025), a spin on Ibsen’s 1893 play about the consequences of an architect’s sexual misconduct, while the American now gets John Proctor is the Villain, Kimberly Belflower’s Tony-nominated 2025 modern-day sequel to Miller’s 1953 story of the consequences of a farmer’s sexual misconduct, The Crucible.
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