The Crucible starring Erin Doherty – review round-up

The Crucible – Timely or timeless?

Arthur Miller intended The Crucible as an attack on McCarthyism, the state-sanctioned persecution of socialist sympathisers in the US in the 1950s, but it has changed over the decades, evolving with its context into a comment on contemporary socio-political situations. How hard does it hit in 2022?

For some, it is powerfully timely. Its “study of public vilification and herd behaviour feels freshly relevant”, says Nick Curtis (Evening Standard, ★★★★), while Dominic Cavendish (Telegraph, ★★★★★) admires its “urgent force” and Sam Marlowe (The Stage, ★★★★) adds that: “In a world of confected culture wars, it once again sends insidious cold trickles of recognition shivering down the spine.”

Others, though, think its brilliance lies in its timelessness, rather than its timeliness. It remains “as precisely constructed and as brutal as a metal mantrap”, for Alice Saville (Independent, ★★★★) and “a nerve-shredding tragedy” for Marianka Swain (London Theatre, ★★★★★). Ultimately, concludes Andrzej Lukowski (TimeOut, ★★★★), “it’s great for the reasons it’s always been great".

Only Clive Davis (Times, ★★★) and Arifa Akbar (Guardian, ★★★) are not entirely impressed. For the latter, Turner’s revival feels like a “period piece”, while for the former, it “only intermittently delivers”. Most reviewers, though, agree with Gwendolyn Smith (iNews, ★★★★): “Arthur Miller’s thundering modern classic only gains in power as it steamrolls down the decades,” she writes.

The Crucible – Dangerous Doherty

Erin Doherty’s stock has risen rapidly in recent years, thanks to high-profile television roles as Princess Anne in Netflix’s The Crown and the title character in BBC One thriller Chloe – so much so that she tops the bill here as Abigail Williams, the teenager that sets Salem aflame with scandal, despite the fact that Abigail is far from The Crucible’s main character. And she thoroughly impresses.

Doherty is “mesmerising” for Marlowe, “genuinely frightening” for Theo Bosanquet (WhatsOnStage, ★★★★), and “lights up the show with searing conviction” for Curtis. For Cavendish, she supplies a “perfect” combination of “shrewd calculation” that confirms her as “one of our finest young actresses”. Only Akbar disagrees, writing that Doherty’s Abigail is “full of urgent energy” but “overplayed” and “oddly flat”.

Elsewhere, Australian actor Brendan Cowell – he previously appeared in Yerma at the Young Vic, and Dance Nation at the Almeida – is John Proctor, and Irish actor Eileen Walsh, who has worked extensively on stage in both Britain and Ireland, is his wife Elizabeth Proctor. Both are praised.

Cowell is “tremendous” for Lukowski and “powerfully moving” for Curtis, playing Proctor as a “a burly, coiled spring of a man” and “a farmer with his feet firmly in the soil”, according to Bosanquet. Walsh, meanwhile, is a “study in pained decency” for Smith, and “brilliantly balances inner steel and nervousness” according to Akbar. Together, writes Swain, “they create such a rich dynamic”.

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The Crucible – Earthy and atmospheric

Director Lyndsey Turner’s CV is full of impressive credits: as well as 2020’s Under Milk Wood at the National Theatre, where she is an associate, there has been A Number at the Old Vic, Faith Healer at the Donmar Warehouse, Hamlet – starring Benedict Cumberbatch – at the Barbican, Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre, Posh at the Royal Court, and more. Most critics admire her handiwork here.

Her staging is “magnificent” for Swain, “rain-lashed, murky, thrumming with menace” for Marlowe, and “full of good ideas and atmospheric flourishes” for Lukowski. It is “a production that hardly puts a foot wrong”, writes Bosanquet, while Cavendish calls it “The National at its best.” Only Davis and Akbar disagree, the latter lamenting what she sees as Turner’s prioritisation of “polished aesthetics”.

There is plenty of praise for Es Devlin’s design in particular, which even Akbar admits is “a stunner.” The most memorable element of her sparse set is the “extravagant curtain of rain” that sporadically “cascades from the top of the stage”, writes Saville. It is, she adds, a staging of “sensuous beauty”.

There is some confusion over Catherine Fay’s costumes and the time period they place the play in – “Why are Brendan Cowell’s earthy John Proctor and other yeoman farmers dressed in khaki and blue as if they were refugees from The Grapes of Wrath?” asks Davis – but endless admiration of Tim Lutkin’s lighting. “It’s like watching a live oil painting,” writes Bosanquet. It’s “visually sumptuous”.

The Crucible – The verdict

Some critics think The Crucible is particularly resonant in the context of contemporary culture wars; others simply think it is piercing and powerful whenever and wherever it is performed. But one thing is certain: Arthur Miller’s 1953 play still packs a punch in 2022, as does Turner’s staging of it.

Cowell and Walsh provide superb performances as John and Elizabeth Proctor respectively, while Erin Doherty is excellent as Abigail Williams, announcing herself as a major talent on stage as well as screen. Turner’s production is earthy and atmospheric, and Devlin’s dramatic design dazzles.

The Times’ Clive Davis and The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar aren’t entirely sure, but there are five stars from Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph and Marianka Swain for London Theatre, with four from everyone else. A hit, then: a cracking production of a classic play.