john proctor is the villain
“One day, maybe, the new world we were promised will actually be new.”
Five young women running on pop music, optimism, and fury are about to shed light on the darkest secrets in their small town.
A story about girlhood, power, and questioning the narratives we’ve been taught.
Tony Award-winner Danya Taymor (The Outsiders) directs Kimberly Belflower’s bitingly funny, seven-time Tony Award-nominated fresh take on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
Photography by Camilla Greenwell (@camilla_greenwell).
Writer Kimberly Belflower
Director Danya Taymor
Scenography AMP, featuring Teresa Williams
Costume Designer Sarah Laux
Lighting Designer Natasha Katz
Sound Designer and Original Composition Palmer Hefferan
Projection Designer Hannah Wasileski
Hair and Makeup Designer J. Jared Janas
Movement Director Tilly Evans-Krueger
Voice and Dialect Coach Gigi Buffington
Dramaturg Lauren Halvorsen
Casting Director Julia Horan CDG
Associate Director Yanni Ng
Intimacy Coordinator Katharine Hardman
Associate Costume Designer Johanna Coe
Associate Lighting Designer Aja M. Jackson
Associate Sound Designer Marie Zschommler
Associate Projection Designer Katerina Vitaly
Associate Hair and Makeup Designer Ceri Adams
Cast Lauren Ajufo, Charlie Borg, Reece Braddock, Dónal Finn, Holly Howden Gilchrist, Clare Hughes, Miya James, Molly McFadden, Sadie Soverall
Nominated for 7 Tony Awards including Best Play and Direction.
REVIEWS FOR john proctor is the villain
“This play likewise makes me want to scream, laugh, cry, and dance. It’s not just a drama: it’s a revolution.”
— Marianka Swain for London Theatre (5-stars)
“This is art that helps us to understand life, a tribute to literature as a map for comprehension, and to dance for expressing all the things that words cannot.”
— Sarah Crompton for WhatsOnStage (5-stars)
“John Proctor is the Villain is a moving, heartfelt, and hilarious piece of theatre that spills over the boundaries of make believe and into the complex real life of what it means to be human.”
— Anna Nicols for West End Best Friend (5-stars)
“If you want to really understand the millions of small, hidden dramas that erupted in the wake of #MeToo, plays like this one are the way to do it.”
— Alice Saville for The Independent (4-stars)
“It’s a wholehearted celebration of teen girl dorkiness and a rebuttal to the idea their lives should be viewed through a sexual lens, even in sympathy.”
— Andrzej Lukowski for TimeOut (4-stars)
“Why do the girls dance, asks Mr. Smith early on, referring to The Crucible’s Abigail Williams, whose nighttime catharsis sees her accused of witchcraft? This play emphatically delivers the answer.”
— Claire Allfree for The Telegraph (4-stars)
“This is a play that must be seen by all, irrespective of gender, age, and background. It’s the perfect gateway for a new audience, and proof that theatre doesn’t have to pander to the grey pound to mean something. […] Beg, borrow, steal, but get yourself into this utterly galvanising room!”
— Cindy Marcolina for Broadway World (5-stars)
“What a joyous, blazingly intelligent play this is: at once a restless interrogation of the role of art in defining and expressing who we are; a compassionate, funny portrayal of what it means to be a teenage girl; and a furious appraisal of the way power games repeat across generations.”
— Sarah Hemming for Financial Times (5-stars)
“You become embroiled in high school politics, all confined within the four walls of their classroom. There are moments of inner thoughts with no dialogue peppered throughout the piece, and characters are at times bathed in an ethereal white light, to delve into what is going on under their facade.”
— Molly G for Everything Theatre (4-stars)
“Kimberly Belflower’s Broadway hit, a punchy riposte to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is a terrific piece of provocative entertainment.”
— Nick Curtis for The Standard (4-stars)