The Crucible review – Miller’s resonant tale of terror given radical sense of humour

Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonDirector Ola Ince brings absurdist comedy to Arthur Miller’s classic drama of Salem witch-hunting, now told partly through songThere is never a time when Arthur Miller’s play about a world turned upside down by collective hysteria and scapegoating does not bear some resonance. But the present moment – of dangerously disputed truths and lies – is an especially pertinent moment to revisit Miller’s analogy between accusations of witchcraft and McCarthyist terror.This production is faithful to the original 17th-century setting, amid the heat and panic of the Salem witch trials. There is period dress: bonnets for women, pointed hats for men and ribbons for the judges, along with a range of broad British accents for these original American pilgrims. But director Ola Ince brings a quietly radical touch in the form of humour – more absurdist than comic, with accusations of flying girls and demon possession taking on preposterous tones. The men, mostly the judges of the last two acts, appear bumbling, like yokels arguing over the fate of their chattel at a country fair. Deputy Governor Danforth (Gareth Snook) is particularly clownish, though no less awful for it. Continue reading...

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Alpha review – I’m sticking up for gruelling French body horror that inspired walkouts

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Alpha review – I’m sticking up for gruelling French body horror that inspired walkouts

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