The Crucible

The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692/93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists. The play was first performed at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway on January 22, 1953, starring E. G. Marshall, Beatrice Straightand Madeleine Sherwood. Miller felt that this production was too stylized and cold and the reviews for it were largely hostile (although The New York Times noted "a powerful play [in a driving performance"). Nonetheless, the production won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play - In Salem Massachusetts, a group of girls of Girls are caught by the puritan Minister Reverend Paris dancing naked in the forest. The Reverend's daughter collapses immediately on sighting her father knowing well the consequences of their sin and the severe punishment that may be met on them. They however allege that they have been bewitched by the witches. - Due to their claims, a special court is set up to investigate this alleged claim by the girls prompting judges to come all the way from Boston to assist the residence of Salem - As court proceedings are going on, the supposedly afflicted girls indict individuals in the town of witchcraft, over and over again choosing victims who they or their families loathe. The special courts discovers over a hundred of Salem citizens are witches...The court's attempt to preserve Puritan morality by arresting and putting to death accused witches ironically leads to the removal of the most righteous people in the society.