Crucible, The

Crucible, The (1953), a play by Arthur Miller. [Martin Beck Theatre, 197 perf.; Tony Award.] Abigail Williams ( Madeleine Sherwood), the promiscuous niece of the Reverend Samuel Parris ( Fred Stewart), is employed by John Proctor ( Arthur Kennedy) until Proctor's wife, Elizabeth ( Beatrice Straight), fires her. In revenge she accuses Elizabeth of being a witch. In the highly charged climate of 1692 Salem, her charges are given ample credence. Proctor comes to his wife's defense, but in the process admits to adultery with Abigail. Hoping to save his own life, he signs a confession, but soon recants and is sentenced to death by Deputy‐Governor Danforth ( Walter Hampden), thereby finding redemption for himself. The Kermit Bloomgarden production boasted a strong cast under the direction of Jed Harris. Appearing at the height of the McCarthy era, the play was perceived as a thinly veiled indictment of McCarthy and his followers. Time felt the work demonstrated “more fieriness of purpose than vision.. . .The material seems not there for the sake of the play, but the play for the sake of the material.” Yet the passage of time suggests that the drama, for all its preachiness, may have more universal and permanent validity than any other of Miller's works. Aside from hundreds of productions in regional and academic theatres, there have been noteworthy New York revivals in 1958, 1964, 1972, and 1991.