SALEM comes to Leamington when the Loft Theatre stages Arthur Miller masterpiece The Crucible.
Set in the Massachusetts town in 1692, the play tells the story of the infamous Salem Witch Trials in which hundreds of people were accused of witchcraft and 22 were executed or died in prison.
Miller used the shameful episode from history to attack the equally infamous McCarthyite anti-communist witch-hunts in 1950’s America.
In a tight-knit, repressive community in the Puritan town of Salem in the late 17th century, a group of girls is discovered in the woods dancing with abandon. When they then fall ill, the priggish preacher Reverend Parris suspects they have been practicing witchcraft.
Under interrogation one of the girls, Abigail Williams, confesses the crime and also throws suspicion on Elizabeth Proctor the wife of her former employer, John Proctor.
As events spiral out of control buried secrets are brought to light and innocent victims become scapegoats, intolerance collides with lust and superstition, and hysteria becomes widespread – with tragic results.
The production, running from May 8 to 18, is co-directed by David Fletcher and Gordon Vallins, with original music composed by Jonathan Fletcher.
Visit www.lofttheatrecompany.com) for tickets and further details.