Overview
Synopsis
In the insular, Puritan community of 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, a group of young girls are found dancing in the woods, and immediately fall ill. When no earthly cause can be determined, the citizens of Salem suspect that some more sinister force may be at hand. As long-held grudges turn to violent disputes, humiliating secrets are exposed and disseminated, and the line between truth and pretense becomes increasingly blurry, the citizens’ dogged determination to root out evil becomes more dangerous than the evil itself. When the burden of proof is invisible and the crime too terrible to name, everyone becomes a suspect and no one is safe. The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s remarkable 1953 play, remains as relevant as ever, and carries with it a stern warning: in every community torn by suspicion, the most dangerous threat may be the community itself.
Show Information
- Book
- Arthur Miller
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 4
- First Produced
- 1953
- Genres
- Drama, Historical/Biographical
- Settings
- Period, Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- salem, massachusetts, 1692
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- None
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Dramatists Play Service
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, Ensemble Cast, High School, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Male, Star Vehicle Female, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Late Teen, Young Adult, Elderly, Child, Early Teen Characters
Context
The Salem Witch Trials took place between the years 1692 and 1693 in a number of small towns in Massachusetts: Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, most of whom were women. The trials were predicated on the Puritan notion that the supernatural was a part of everyday life. Witchcraft trials had taken place in various villages across the colonies prior to the Salem Witch Trials, though only twelve individuals were
to read the context for The Crucible and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
On his knees, in the bedroom of his home in Salem, Reverend Parris prays over his ten-year-old daughter, Betty, who lies asleep. His niece, seventeen-year-old Abigail Williams, enters the room to tell him that Susanna Walcott, another young girl, has arrived with news from the doctor. Susanna informs Parris that Doctor Griggs cannot find a diagnosis for Betty’s illness in any of his books, and that he should, perhaps, look to “unnatural causes.”
Parris orders Susanna out, and
to read the plot for The Crucible and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Silent |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
A young person in the process of developing from a child into an adult.
A narrative that can be interpreted to have a hidden meaning, often related to history, society, morality, or religion.
A reference, usually implied, to a literary or historical person, place, event, or idea.
A government and economic system in which people do not own individual property.
A detailed analysis and assessment of something, especially a literary, philosophical, or political theory.
A committee formed in 1938 within the United States House of Representatives, designed to root out citizens that might be Communist threats to the government during the Cold War.
The name given to the period of time in 1950s America that saw U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy produce a series of investigations and hearings in an effort to expose supposed communist infiltration of various areas of the U.S. government.
Adj. A person who is excessively strict in morals. Noun. A member of a sect of Protestants that demanded simple worship and strict religious discipline.
A religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that sought to “purify” the protestant Church of England of remaining elements of the Roman Catholic Church.
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