The Crucible

Summary

BBC production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Theatre play

The Crucible by Arthur Miller [more information]

Play synopsis

'The Crucible is an allegorical re-telling of the McCarthy era red scare that occurred in the United States after World War II. Based on historical accounts, the play is set during the 1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials when several young girls accuse innocent town members of witchcraft to avoid getting into trouble for entertaining ideas of witchery themselves. The husbands of some of the women involved try to convince the judges as to the girls’ deceit, but find them unshakeable. Eventually even the most prominent members of the community find themselves indicted, and the tension mounts as the central protagonist, John Proctor, must confess an earlier adultery in order to save his own wife from being hanged based upon charges brought by his former lover. However, because his wife lies about the adultery to save his name, the judges fail to believe his charges. Proctor is given the chance to save his own life by confessing to witchery and naming names, but chooses to die rather than betray his friends and neighbors’ (http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/works.html, accessed 18 January 2013).

Production history

The Crucible premiered in the US in 1953 and in the UK the following year.

Date of transmission

Sunday 12 April 1981

Time

7.15-8.45pm; 8.55-10.15pm

Channel

BBC1

Production company

BBC

Credits

Director

Don Taylor (1936-2003)

Producer

Louis Marks

Lighting

John Treays

Playwright

Arthur Miller

Composer

Derek Bourgeois

Conductor

Derek Bourgeois

Designer

Tony Abbott

Costume Designer

Barbara Kronig

Make-up Artist

Dawn Alcock

Sound

John Delany

Script Editor

Stuart Griffiths

Cast

Sarah Berger	Abigail Williams
Philip Martin Brown	Marshal Herrick
Anna Cropper	Ann Putnam
Lynn Dearth	Elizabeth Proctor
Anne Dyson	Rebecca Nurse
Harold Goodwin	Giles Corey
Eva Griffith	Mary Warren
Michael N. Harbour	John Proctor
Ewan Hooper	Thomas Putnam
Barry Jackson	Ezekiel Cheever
Pauline Letts	Martha Corey
Daniel Massey	John Hale
Nicholas Owen	Hopkins
Peggy Phango	Tituba
Eric Porter	Deputy Governor Danforth
Denis Quilley	Samuel Parris
Sarah Sutton	Susanna Walcott
Lucy Taylor	Betty Parris
Wally Thomas	Francis Nurse
Sophie Thompson	Mercy Lewis
Peter Vaughan	Judge Hawthorne
Anna Wing	Sarah Good

Additional details

Play tags

17th-century setting; American drama; supernatural

Audiovisual sources

Title

The Crucible (BBC, 1981)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.

Print sources

Title

Arthur Miller on the small screen 3: The Crucible (Blog article)

Author/creator

Amanda Wrigley (Author)

Reference

http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/arthur-miller-3-the-crucible, published 23 May 2013

Title

BBC-1 (Newspaper listing)

Reference

The Guardian, 11 April 1981, p. 18

Title

Broadcasting and the Arts: Television (Magazine review)

Author/creator

Corinna Adam

Reference

The Listener, 16 April 1981, p. 518

Title

Miller’s Tale [1] (Letter (newspaper))

Author/creator

Lucy Mair (Correspondent)

Reference

The Listener, 7 May 1981, p. 610

Title

Miller’s Tale [2] (Letter (newspaper))

Author/creator

Derek Granger (Correspondent)

Reference

The Listener, 7 May 1981, p. 610

Title

Miller’s Tale [3] (Letter (newspaper))

Author/creator

Louis Marks (Correspondent)

Reference

The Listener, 28 May 1981, p. 712

Title

Television. The Caretaker, BBC 1 (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Michael Church (Reviewer)

Reference

The Times, 8 June 1981, p. 11

Title

The Crucible, BBC 1 (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Michael Church (Reviewer)

Reference

The Times, 13 April 1981, p. 7