Salem, Massachusetts 1692. When the stories of three local girls are taken as gospel, a small village populated by Puritans and petty local rivalries, is thrown into panic by talk of witchcraft. The community begins to purge itself, and as accusations fly suspicion alone is accepted as evidence. Written during the vigorous and unscrupulous investigations of Senator J R McCarthy in 1950’s America. The Crucible is a timeless portrayal of communal hysteria and the evil of mindless persecution.