Armitage proves a colossal presence at the heart of a chillingly atmospheric revival of Miller’s classic.

The Crucible, Old Vic - theatre review
This devastating and absorbing Arthur Miller revival is a triumph


Superb: Richard Armitage and Samantha Colley in The Crucible ©Alastair Muir





HENRY HITCHINGS

Published: 04 July 2014 Updated: 13:18, 04 July 2014
Critic Rating number 5

This revival of Arthur Miller’s great play, by South African director Yaël Farber, is astonishing. The production has a bold simplicity yet grips like the most complex thriller.

Miller’s vision of the Salem witch trials, which convulsed colonial Massachusetts in the early 1690s, was intended to draw attention to the political repression that scarred America in the 1950s. But it could just as soon be interpreted as a picture of the way modern religious fundamentalism can strangle reason, tolerance and individuality.

Farber makes the play feel urgent and immediate — and does so by refusing to hurry. The action’s wilful slowness is often exhilarating, and the performances pulse with bruising physicality.

Richard Armitage is John Proctor, a fierce and earthy farmer who has cheated on his wife Elizabeth (Anna Madeley) with their servant Abigail Williams. Now removed from their household, Abigail is bent on revenge. She pursues this with cool ingenuity, and newcomer Samantha Colley makes her utterly chilling. As Abigail creates the impression that unspeakable crimes have polluted their tight community, the hysteria that swirls around her is disturbingly palpable.

Armitage at first smoulders, all dark looks and muscular seriousness. Later he blazes, raging against the paranoid insanity that engulfs him — and also against his own fallibility. Meanwhile Madeley brings a tense restraint to Elizabeth, capturing her wounded sense of virtue. Their intimate moments wrench the heart.

There’s superb support. The standout is Adrian Schiller, who vividly reimagines the role of John Hale, the conscientious moralist who feels he must analyse every scrap of evidence, while Jack Ellis impresses as the stern judge determined to eradicate witchcraft. And Soutra Gilmour’s spare design, Tim Lutkin’s lighting and Richard Hammarton’s brooding sound combine to create a tormented, shadowy atmosphere — never more sinister than when ash tumbles on to the stage like black snow.

Although a running time of more than three and a half hours sounds daunting, The Crucible is an absorbing and ultimately devastating experience. It taxes the mind but also spears you in the guts.

Fünf Sterne auch vom London Evening Standard:
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/thea ... 84059.html

Jetzt kann ich nur, wie die Sophie im Rosenkavalier, stammeln: "Denn das ist ja so schön, so schön!"

Anscheinend haben die überwiegend 5 Sterne Reviews die letzten Zweifler überzeugt und den Ticketverkauf ernorm angeregt.

5 stars everywhere for The Crucible at @oldvictheatre starring Richard Armitage #ineedtoseeit

Ich hatte es insgeheim (allem Zweckpessimismus zum Trotz) gehofft.

Aber diese bedingungslose Kapitulation der Londoner Theatergroßkopferten (die wahrlich Ahnung von der Materie haben und nicht zur Gattung der Schmeichler gehören!) vor dieser grandiosen Inszenierung und seiner überwältigenden Interpretation der Hauptrolle - - - - - -

- - - das haut mich gerade schier aus den Schuhen.

Hast Du's eigentlich auch schon gesehen? *NeugierigNachfragt*

Fünf Sterne auch vom London Evening Standard:
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/thea ... 84059.html