The Crucible NYC Reviews and Tickets

"In this gut-wrenching, modern-dress 'Crucible' — infused with the visceral suspense and the manipulative underscoring of a horror movie — the director denies us any protective distance from the cumulative modern implications of mass hysteria and hypocrisy. Despite the starry cast, this is a big splendid ensemble of equals. And despite the sprawling locations of Miller’s story, all the action feels unforced into one big country schoolroom."
Read more

"Van Hove's staging of the play certainly has its imaginative moments...These elements don’t come across as a grand reimagining of Miller’s play, but, rather, as taking advantage of opportunities for quick-hit imagery and symbolism...What’s surprising is how lacking in intensity and dramatic development the normally devastating tale is—except for a shattering final scene...The production fails to build a head of steam."
Read more

"Van Hove has once again pulled off an inspired reimagining of a theatrical classic, which takes a little time to find its rhythm during the first scene, but then canters briskly along throughout the final two hours...The play itself no longer feels quite as urgent as it must have done when first performed at the height of the McCarthyite witch-hunts in 1953. But 'The Crucible' remains a powerful allegory about the temptations of groupthink and how little protection the law can provide."
Read more

"While there are outstanding performances in Van Hove’s interpretation, I never felt the sense of snowballing paranoia I’d been expecting...While I’m confident Miller believed in the power of mankind to manipulate and be manipulated, I’m rather sure his 'witch hunt' was metaphorical. Theatrical flourishes here suggest van Hove prefers it an open-ended question...'The Crucible' feels like a serious reinterpretation."
Read more

"Van Hove has taken a powerful script and infused it with visions of his own...His cast is powerful and commanding...It has power but I believe it would have more if it were less blunt. The final scene between John Proctor and his wife is touching and beautifully played, but it comes at the end of a very long evening, one that might be trimmed to suit the thought that sometimes less is more...'The Crucible' will provoke you, but if you’re prepared for that, there are rewards waiting for you."
Read more

"The directorial touches sometimes result in powerful images and exchanges, but while Sophie Okonedo is strong as the accused Elizabeth Proctor, Ben Whishaw seems oddly cast, and as the finger pointing brat, Saoirse Ronan doesn’t electrify. The production starts slowly, then becomes eye opening, then comes alive again in court, then loses steam in the last stretch. The result is the kind of show that you can recommend to critics, but not necessarily to friends."
Read more

"His approach is alternately striking, lugubrious, and fruit loopy...Whether van Hove is succeeding in his stated goal of stripping away theatrical conventions and cutting to the heart of classic drama—or, in fact, is doing the opposite, and serving up a 'Crucible' that is affected and artificial—probably comes down to your personal taste...If all of the disparate pieces never quite fit together, you can do a lot worse than an audacious production of a built-to-last masterpiece."
Read more

"The revival, with visionary director Ivo van Hove at the wheel, is uneven, lacking the singular, brilliant focus of his earlier Miller revival this season...Van Hove’s stripped-down approach does starkly illuminate the paranoia and descent into madness as a small town turns on itself...This is a production that can feel somewhat cluttered, which is a strange thing for a van Hove show. But there’s no denying it is a brilliant debut for Whishaw. He has magic in spades."
Read more