It’s been just three years since Ivo Van Hove’s star-heavy, radical re-envisioning of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” roared onto Broadway, complete with an elaborate set, Philip Glass score and onstage wolves. Now Eric Tucker’s Bedlam offers a pared-down take on the 1953 play that fits with the company’s just-the-basics approach to classics from “Twelfth Night” to “The Seagull” to an acclaimed adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Sense & Sensibility.”
Bedlam’s “Crucible,” which opened Thursday at Off Broadway’s Connelly Theater, presents the story of the 17th-century Salem witch trials straight, with no frills — and no obvious attempts to draw parallels to either the McCarthy era in which Miller wrote the play or any modern political or social currents.
Credit goes to the first-rate cast, many of them Bedlam regulars, led by Ryan Quinn as reluctant hero John Proctor — who comes to regret his affair with a teenage girl, Abigail (Truett Felt), when she leads the wave of witchcraft accusations that soon target his own wife (Susannah Millonzi). Quinn captures Proctor in all his contradictions, a decent man who has done wrong and now struggles to make up for his sins in a hypocritical society where the right path is anything but clear.
As the Rev. John Hale, a learned expert brought into Salem when the first accusations surface, Bedlam artistic director Eric Turner presents a similar study in decency struggling in the midst of outrageous indecency. Even the villains of the piece get a fair shake: Paul Lazar’s Judge Thomas Danforth has a by-the-book approach to piety and jurisprudence that leads him to a blind allegiance to the flawed legal system where the accused can only be saved from execution by swearing false confessions of wrongdoing. He may remind you of that Fox News-loving uncle who just can’t be shaken from his prescribed talking points.
At just under three hours, “The Crucible” can be a long sit — and may seem longer because the audience are often seated in wooden, cushion-less slat-back chairs close to the stage. Those chairs sometimes double as jail cells in John McDermott’s set design, which relies heavily on thrift-store furniture. The production also features simple costumes (by Charlotte Palmer-Lane) and handheld lights (including a key night-time confrontation illuminated only by flashlights).
Despite the stripped-down simplicity of Bedlam’s approach, or perhaps because of it, the power of Miller’s story remains vitally and viscerally intact.
Broadway's 12 Top-Grossing Non-Musical Plays of All Time, From 'War Horse' to 'Harry Potter' (Photos)
Broadway isn't just for musicals. Here are the all-time top-grossing straight plays on the Great White Way, according to grosses compiled by the Broadway League up to Dec. 30, 2019. (These figures aren't adjusted for inflation, so recent hits at current sky-high ticket prices have a definite advantage.)
12. "700 Sundays" (2004-05; 2013-14)
Total gross: $32,029,177
Billy Crystal's autobiographical one-man show found favor in two separate runs on Broadway nearly a decade apart.
11. "Betrayal" (2019)
Total gross: $32,621,468
Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox and Zawe Ashton packed 'em in for the fourth Broadway production of Harold Pinter's time-bending drama.
10. "August: Osage County" (2007-09)
Total gross: $32,835,606
Tracy Letts' Pulitzer-winning drama became a huge hit on stage without any big stars -- and then a 2013 movie starring with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
9. "Proof" (2000-03)
Total gross: $32,896,994
David Auburn's drama about a woman with a troubled legacy of both mental illness and genius-level math skills earned multiple Tony Awards, including for star Mary-Louise Parker.
8. "The Play That Goes Wrong" (2017-19)
Total gross: $34,341,708
This farce about an amateur theater company's mishap-prone production of a mystery play is another London import that found popularity on this side of the Atlantic.
7. "God of Carnage" (2009-10)
Total gross: $37,345,584
Yasmina Reza's barnstorming dramedy about two dueling couples earned the Tony for Best Drama -- as well as nominations for James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis.
6. "It's Only a Play" (2014-15)
Total gross: $37,500,966
Terrence McNally's backstage comedy was a huge hit thanks to the Broadway reteaming of Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, stars of the Tony-winning musical "The Producers" a decade before.
5. "Angels in America" (2018 revival)
Total gross: $40,937,028
The 2018 revival of Tony Kushner's two-part epic won three Tony Awards, including for co-stars Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane.
4. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (2014-16)
Total gross: $68,321,435
Another London import, Simon Stephens' adaptation of Mark Haddon's YA novel follows an autistic boy on a quest for the killer of his neighbor's dog.
3. "War Horse" (2011-13)
Total gross: $74,975,253
Michael Morpurgo's YA novel about a British boy's search for his horse in World War I inspired both this epic play, complete with life-size puppets, and Steven Spielberg's 2011 film.
2. "To Kill a Mockingbird" (2018 - )
Total gross: $105,773,236* (as of Dec. 30, 2019)
Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of the beloved Harper Lee novel may have been snubbed by Tony nominators for Best Play, but it has been drawing crowds since opening in December 2018.
1. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two" (2018 - )
Total gross: $$163,017,626* (as of Dec. 30, 2019)
The stage sequel to J.K. Rowling's saga about the now-grown boy wizard has extra advantages -- since it's a two-night (and two-ticket) epic that plays in a musical-sized auditorium to diehard Potterheads.
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You don’t need an orchestra — or songs — to draw audiences
Broadway isn't just for musicals. Here are the all-time top-grossing straight plays on the Great White Way, according to grosses compiled by the Broadway League up to Dec. 30, 2019. (These figures aren't adjusted for inflation, so recent hits at current sky-high ticket prices have a definite advantage.)
