The Crucible - National Theatre / NT Live Jan 23 / Gielgud

I'm probably missing your joke totally here...but...I had a great seat...so did 3/4 of the theatre who could not see the lead actors faces for nearly 20 minutes...

I loved this. I love it's pace, the way it gradually builds to a terrific climax, and it's got some really top notch performances from Erin Doherty, Brendan Cowell, Mathew Marsh, Fisayo Akinade, Karl Johnson, Eileen Walsh and Tilly Tremayne.

Some spoilers follow. . .

On the downside, I really didn't get much from the bookended text, added to the play at the beginning and end, and I didn't get much from the rain either, although neither did those things detract, for me, from what was a remarkable drama.

I also don't think this is as impactful as the Old Vic production, mainly because the in-the-round staging was so effective in that one: we were part of it, we were sitting in judgement, we were part of a spooky seance (everytime the "witches" moved as a pack screaming, I practically jumped out of my skin, fearing they'd break through the audience-line lol). By contrast, this felt contained by the stage, apart from the first row getting a bit wet in their ponchos from the rain, which ironically was more of a distancing device, to make us think about the show, rather than an immersive device, to make us feel we were part of it. The bookended new text also served as a kind of Brechtian distancing device as well.

But wow, the drama wonderfully heats up to almost unbearably intense levels, in my opinion! The dark, soaking, spare staging serves to focus the mind on some incredible and incendiary performances.

Erin Doherty is an actor who projects the inside out so effortlessly that I always feel the storm of her emotions, and it's no different here, where you can really empathise with her Abigail, just a young jealous girl squirming to survive unduly intense societal pressure. In fact, if you just watch the first half hour, you'd think she was the anti-hero of the piece. Her performance felt the polar opposite, to me, of Samantha Colley's Abigail at the Old Vic, who felt utterly frighteningly malevolent from the start.

Brendan Cowell's John Proctor is a slow burn and better for it. At first, I felt like he was a light weight, he seemed so blase. Whereas at the Old Vic, Richard Armitage's John Proctor was growling intensity personified, from first to last, like a great oak being felled, you could mistake Cowell's Proctor for a man of no consequence, barely present, drowned out utterly by Doherty's steaming emotions. But Cowell builds his performance over the course of the play. He grows and grows in indignant conviction and emotional power until he towers in stature by the final scene. It's a slow build to glory, and his exit is beautifully done, even if the bookended text threatens to interrupt him. It doesn't succeed lol.

Matthew Marsh's deep sonorous voice is a tremendous boon for his Supreme Inquisitor, Deputy Governor Danforth. It's like he's one part Darth Vader, one part Christopher Walken at his tuneful tricksiest and one part reasonable man, and you never know which one you're going to get. Marsh really impressed me at Hampstead Theatre, when he played the Apartheid monster, Eugene de Kock, balancing control, calm, wit and roiling rage, and he pulls off a similarly authoritative balancing act here, (un)balancing Danforth's easy authority with an internal mania, such that I was on edge watching him.

Other great performances were Fisayo Akinade's deeply compassionate and reasonable Reverend John Hale, Karl Johnson's wittily-timed slow-reacting Giles Corey, Eileen Walsh's broken yet unbreakable Elizabeth Proctor and Tilly Tremayne's forthright, principled Rebecca Nurse.

When I first saw the Old Vic production, I felt it was a 4 and a half, but when I saw it at the end of the run, I felt it was a five star smash! Seeing this one for the first time, I feel it's an 4 star drama, buoyed by brilliant performances, but as it comes together over time, I expect it to be a 4 and a half star smash by the end of the run.

4 stars from me, for now.

www.playbill.com/article/check-out-production-photos-from-the-crucible-at-londons-national

scroll down for the camera roll. 

I saw this yesterday. I would largely agree with Steve's detailed review above, though I didn't love it as much as him, maybe 3 stars from me. Not sure I can really explain why, because it's good, but I struggled to get emotionally involved until right at the end when Proctor was being asked to confess. That scene was brilliantly done by everybody involved. Up till that point I was appreciating the quality of it without caring all that much.

The cast were all excellent, but a stand out for me was Fisayo Akinade as Reverend Hale, his transition from smooth confidence in the earlier scenes to horror and regret in the second half was well done.

No idea what the rain effect was for. It seemed a bit pointless and meant a lot of mopping at the front of the stage for no obvious reason.

I was wondering if the rain curtain is acting as an emotionally distancing 'moat'? And is that a deliberate distancing?

A friend of mine who had never seen the play before was completely engrossed because he genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next. His companion who had seen it before was less impressed.

Saw this tonight and the staging was definitely the highlight, though I agree with others’ comments about there not necessarily being any need for the rain (beautiful though it was!). Could see everything at the back of the stage from my seat up in the Circle but did find myself wondering how well those in the stalls would see it.

Performance-wise, everyone was strong. Not being familiar with the original text (!), I did expect Erin Doherty’s Abigail to feature more than she did. At least I’ll know for next time!

The text itself felt a bit one note, though, and as good as this was in many of the production aspects, I can’t on balance say that I enjoyed it. It certainly felt every minute of the 2 hour 50 minute run time - which was in contrast with the 3 hour 15 minute Aida I saw at the ROH early this week which (for the most part) went pretty quickly!

That said, I’m conscious that this was my impression as someone coming to the play totally fresh. There were a bunch of (presumably GCSE) students in front of me and it did make me wonder how much more I’d have enjoyed it if it were a text I’d had the chance to study at school or even university, or even seen before. Probably would have got a bit more out of it.

A bit late, but this is an underrated post 😂

Purposely kept myself away from reading about the plot or anything about the play and glad I did, because the suspense was great and I found it totally engaging. Scene 2 especially I thought was just brilliant.

Row C 20/21, right on the central aisle - brilliant seats for this.

Very much enjoyed this! Fisayo Akinade as others have mentioned gave a highlight performance as Rev Hale and Erin Doherty brings a rage to the show which you can't quite take your eyes off. For me, the weak link seemed to be Brendan Cowell's John Proctor where for most of the show, one doesn't feel very much for his character. At times, it felt like he was playing for the audience over reacting to the drama on stage and I felt a slight disconnect there. Eileen Walsh was brilliant as Elizabeth Proctor and I must echo other's thoughts on the stage design. Very stylish and really sets the tone for the evening as you walk into the Olivier Theatre. The lighting design was great too and I really liked the choral elements as well.

Thoroughly enjoyed my first ever viewing of any production of the Crucible. I will definitely be making a return visit.