Theatre
The Crucible
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Neil Cooper
Four stars
When Judge Danforth talks about getting to the bottom of the swamp in the third act courtroom scene of Arthur Miller’s McCarthy era masterpiece, it’s hard not to pick up on the accidental contemporary resonance of such populist rhetoric. This is one of many things that stand out in Elizabeth Newman’s production, which sees Salem inhabited by the spirit of Pitlochry itself, embodied here by designer Adrian Rees’ sturdy reproduction of the shoogly suspension bridge that crosses the River Tummel.
Like any small town after dark from Pitlochry to Twin Peaks, Salem holds its secrets. Here, it comes in the shape of a girl gang raving it up in the woods as any bored teenagers might. The hysteria that results from such hormonally charged wig-outs to what’s perceived to be the Devil’s music - personified here by occasional bursts of freeform electric guitar and drums – has consequences beyond the mere letting off of adolescent steam.
Much of this is down to the mean girls themselves, who fall under the influence of Fiona Wood’s Abigail Williams. Abigail’s status is high following her illicit dalliance with Harry Long’s John Proctor, and the girls believe themselves to be invincible as they bask in the fame their games have brought them before things get out of hand.
With Newman’s largely youngish cast clad in various shades of denim, there is little ambiguity here about who is being stitched up. These days, Abigail’s clique would be indulging in social media pile-ons against the likes of Elizabeth Proctor, played here by Claire Dargo in a poignant study of put-upon integrity in the face of her husband’s grudging martyrdom. Deirdre Davis adds gravitas as Danforth, and it is with the judge the buck must stop, as every bridge that once kept a community together in fragile peace is burnt beyond repair.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here