The Crucible is coming back to Broadway and Tony Award winner Sophie Okonedo (A Raisin in the Sun) was recently announced to take the lead as “Elizabeth Proctor”. The highly popular Arthur Miller drama, The Crucible, is set to begin previews February 29 and opening a scheduled opening of April 7. The production, –at a theater to be announced–will be directed by Ivo van Hove.
Joining Okonedo in the cast will be; Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) as “John Proctor”, Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) as “Abigail Williams”, and Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones) as “Deputy Governor Danforth”. Philip Glass will compose the production’s original score.
The Crucible is set in the tight-knit, Puritan town of Salem. The plot is described as the following: “In the tight-knit, Puritan town of Salem, a group of girls are discovered dancing in the woods and then immediately fall ill. When no earthly cause can be identified, fear and suspicion begin to percolate in the small, isolated community, that something larger, more fearsome, and other worldly may be to blame. Buried secrets and resentments are brought to light, and attempts to root out evil lead to finger-pointing, treachery, and betrayal. When everyone is a suspect, sometimes the most dangerous threat to the community may be the community itself.”
The play first appeared on Broadway in 1953 in a production at the Martin Beck Theatre. It has since then seen four revivals, the most recent was a 2002 production featuring an all star cast that included Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, and Kristen Bell.
This production makes Sophie Okonedo the first black woman to take on the role of “Elizabeth Proctor” in Broadway history and perhaps that exactly what producers wanted. According to the casting notice’s breakdown on Actors Equity, the production was “seeking a diverse company. Unless specifically stated, characters are any ethnicity.”
Sound off in the comments below, how do we feel? I’ll tell you one thing, this year’s 2016 Tony Awards, I feel, will see a Broadway Black takeover. Watch Okonedo’s Tony Award acceptance speech below, as well.
