Stratford Crucible Tipped for Transfer???

Look Back in Anger may not be the only landmark play from the Fifties to receive a West End berth this year. In Stratford-upon-Avon this week, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s revival of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible opened to strong reviews but only the briefest of runs. If you aren’t able to get up to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre by 19 March, though, you may not have long to wait for a second chance to see Dominic Cooke’s revival of Miller’s thriller about the Salem witchcraft trials of the 17th century, which was written during America’s McCarthy era in 1953 and has found strong resonances with the current US political climate. Several West End producers have booked their return train tickets to catch the play, amongst them Bill Kenwright and Thelma Holt, who are reportedly keen to bring it to town. In recent years, Kenwright and Holt have teamed up to transfer various RSC productions to Shaftesbury Avenue, including the Judi Dench-headed All’s Well That Ends Well, Gregory Doran’s pairing of The Taming of the Shrew and The Tamer Tamed and the Olivier Award-winning Jacobean season. The Crucible stars Iain Glen as John Proctor, alongside Elaine Cassidy as Abigail. If it does transfer, it would be the third Miller in the West End in a year, after the imported Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman and, just opened last night, the UK premiere of Miller’s second-to-last play Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman at the Old Vic.

Got some goss? Contact gossip@whatsonstage.com

Related Content