A finale that will not be forgotten
Kimberly Belflower’s ‘John Proctor is the Villain’ draws together the Salem Witch Trials, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and the #metoo movement, in a powerful play set in an American high school that starts off good and ends brilliantly in a crescendo of light and sound, writes Michael Holland.
We are looking through the eyes of 15-year-old schoolgirls in 2018 while their news is filled with accusations against the powerful Harvey Weinstein. They like their teacher, Mr Smith (Donal Finn), almost as much as they like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Beyoncé, but they are not that goggle-eyed not to want their own ‘Feminist Class’ where they can discuss contemporary problems that women face. Mr Smith, however, is not keen unless they allow boys in for balance…
Mr Smith is preparing the class to perform Arthur Miller’s The Crucible after explaining it is an allegory against Communism and McCarthyism, with no mention of it being about John Proctor having an illicit affair with a young girl in a 17th-century township descended from English Puritans.
Everything is looking good until we, like flies on the wall, eavesdrop on their conversations: Ivy (Clare Hughes) is stressed over her father being accused of inappropriate behaviour, and Lee (Charlie Borg) catches Raelynn (Miya James) alone in class, demanding she take him back. They had been together since Year 4 and now Beth has dumped him for having sex with Shelby (Sadie Soverall), her best friend who was mysteriously moved away from the small town. His threatening stance, though, has her next asking her friends if she should have sex with him. ‘No,’ is the team reply!
Shelby’s surprise return sees everything change. Slowly layers are pulled back to get to the lower levels of secrecy where truth lies. Our suspicions of who the bad guy predator is going to be move around, until a play rehearsal when a verbal bomb is dropped and the whole of the audience gasps as one.
That’s when the church, the school and the small-town psyche metaphorically draw the wagons in a circle to protect the men while the girls are not believed. The allegorical connection is now between this play and The Crucible.
There are scenes of mass hysteria, meltdowns and, I would imagine if they were allowed, lynchings by a mob. Instead, the magnificent cast builds up a group energy for a finale that will not be forgotten, as they dress like Pilgrims and dance to Lorde’s Green Light, while her powerful lyrics bounce around the auditorium and leave us mesmerised at what we have just witnessed.
‘Wow!’ I said to the nice woman from Banbury next to me. ‘What a finish!’
‘Yes,’ she replied with a smile. ‘I want to burn his house down.’ And headed off to catch her train back to Oxfordshire.
I can only guess at whose house she meant, but I’m sure nobody in this country needs to worry.
The two hours flew by with Danya Taymor’s direction.
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court until April 26th.
