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The play is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th Century- paralleling the real witch hunt which happened in the strict puritan village with the McCarthy trials of America's Red Scare during the Cold War. This piece explores the themes of victimization and prejudice. The Crucible, which was first performed in 1961 and received the Pulitzer Prize. Sadly, our production coincided with Arthur Miller's death. Performed in the Free Church, St. Ives in March 2005. |
Written in the early 1950s during the time of McCarthyism, when the government blacklisted accused communists. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956. The play was first performed on Broadway on January 22, 1953. The reviews of the first production were hostile, but a year later a new production succeeded and the play became a classic. Today it is studied in schools and universities, both because of its status as a revolutionary work of theatre and as a document to political events of the 1950s. The play was adapted for film twice, by Jean-Paul Sartre as the 1957 film Les Sorcières de Salem and by Miller himself as the 1996 film The Crucible, the latter with a cast including Paul Scofield, Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. Miller's adaptation earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay based on Previously Produced Material, his only nomination. The play was also adapted by composer Robert Ward into an opera. |
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Arthur Miller- Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American literature and cinema for over 61 years, writing a wide variety of plays, including celebrated plays such as The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman, which are still studied and performed worldwide. Miller was often in the public eye, most famously for refusing to give evidence against others to the House Un-American Activities Committee, being the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama among other awards, and for marrying Marilyn Monroe. At the time of his death, Miller was considered one of the greatest American playwrights. |
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