Photo by Jan Versweyveld
Belgian avant-garde theatre director Ivo van Hove has been having quite the season in New York. Not only has he earned a Tony nomination for his efforts in directing A View from the Bridge at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre, but he also helmed the instant sell-out Lazarus at New York Theatre Workshop, which featured the music of the late, great David Bowie. Now, he's represented on the Great White Way with another Arthur Miller classic - The Crucible - and, as always, he is leaving his distinct, directorial stamp with the production. In honour of Mr van Hove's excellence, The Crucible is our #ShowOfTheWeek!
The 1953 classic has been transformed to the setting of a girl's private school classroom, accompanied by non-distinct costumes which give the whole show a timeless feel. Removing the text from its 17th century period and delivering a stripped back production, van Hove allows us to concentrate on the play's message as it would apply to any era of society. What we get is mass hysteria - something that wouldn't seem so out of place with today's politics. This Crucible is unnerving, clinical, intense, and alienating at the same time. Philip Glass' score is maddening and threatening and Jan Versweyveld's scenic design and Tony-nominated lighting design brings a blackboard eerily to life before your very eyes. Oh, and have you ever seen a wolf on stage before? There are plenty of elements to this show that will grip the audience member until the final bow.
There are some fine performances from an international cast of British, Irish and American actors. BAFTA winner and Olivier nominee Ben Whishaw makes a strong Broadway debut as John Proctor, opposite Tony winner and Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo as Elizabeth Proctor. The perhaps unlikely pairing have great onstage chemistry and a tenderness to their relationship, which comes across as heartbreakingly honest until the bitter end. They are enhanced by a great ensemble cast, which also includes two-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan as a defiant Abigail Williams, Ciarán Hinds as an intimidatingly sovereign Deputy Governor Danforth and Bill Camp, who has earned a Tony nomination for his earnest portrayal of Reverend John Hale.
Click HERE to read our exclusive interview with Ben Whishaw and Sophie Okonedo.
Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trials of the 1690s as a time-specific interpretation of the finger-pointing McCarthyism of the 1950s and the play has remained on the school syllabus ever since and is produced time and time again on stages across the globe. But with Ivo van Hove at the helm, I can guarantee that you have never seen anything like The Crucible you can currently see on Broadway.
Click here for tickets to The Crucible for performances through to 17 July 2016 at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre.
Sophie Okonedo & Ben Whishaw in The Crucible More Production PhotosOriginally published on