United Kingdom Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible: Dancers and Orchestra of Scottish Ballet / Daniel Parkinson (conductor). Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 1.5.2025. (SRT)
I was bowled over by Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible – based on Arthur Miller’s famous play – when it was new in 2019 (review here), and thought at the time that the company had a bankable classic on its hands. So it proves in this, its first revival. The things that were so impressive six years ago are just as impressive now, not least the way it builds a cohesive world of Puritan New England through the costumes and mannerisms.
This isn’t just a straight representation, however. The costumes ground you squarely in 1690s Massachusetts, but David Finn’s designs add an abstract sense of dread that hovers over the action and permeates the drama. Four huge panels hang at the back of the set, serving a practical function to delineate scenes, but they also evoke a Christian cross that speaks to the oppressive religious community of Salem. Peter Salem’s (what a name!) score is phenomenally impressive, balancing acoustic and electronic music, and recordings with live performance, as well as blending together different genres to evoke the eerie world of the witch trials and a terrible sense of gathering doom, lightened by the tender, middle-string love music for the Proctors.
But what resonated with me most this time was the character of Rev. Parris, the preacher whose theocratic world is fractured by the suspicion of witchcraft within his flock. His movements have authoritative fluidity, seemingly making dance out of his praying arms, and Andrea Azzari dances him with liquid suppleness. However, his wide-armed gestures seem to both embrace and intimidate his religious community, and he dissolves into movements of jagged horror when he comes across the girls playing their demonic games in the forest. From that point the other black-clad authority figures in Salem seem to follow his descent into rigid dread, which makes the court scenes all the more intimidating as one by one the accused are convicted to death. When matched by Salem’s score, conducted with structural depth by Daniel Parkinson, it makes for completely gripping theatre.
This revival cast, all new to their roles, do a terrific job. Bruno Micchiardi brings wounded dignity to John Proctor, the reluctant hero, while Jessica Fyfe progresses movingly from the betrayed wife to the tower of strength who forgives him. Kayla-Maree Tarantolo holds the gaze unflinchingly, bringing a palpable streak of wickedness to Abigail’s personality, while the other girls convincingly dance the power of a mania to grip a crowd en masse. The authority figures in the town dance with a combination of strength and the sense of being entrapped by circumstances beyond their control, and Javier Andreu shows clearly that Hale’s idealistic hope will come to nothing.
It’s a tightly constructed story at less than two hours, and the storytelling is admirably clear. Moreover, it tells a powerful story about the collective delusion of crowds and the ability of a lie to sway an entire population; a story for our times if ever there was one. All told, a devilishly good show.
To 3 May; then Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 22-24 May.
Simon Thompson
Cast:
Abigail – Kayla-Maree Tarantolo
John Proctor – Bruno Micchiardi
Elizabeth Proctor – Jessica Fyfe
Tituba – Xolisweh Richards
Mary – Danila Marzilli
Rev. Parris – Andrea Azzari
Creatives:
Playwright – Arthur Miller
Choreography – Helen Pickett
Music – Peter Salem
Artistic collaborator – James Bonas
Set and Costume design – Emma Kingsbury
Set and Lighting design – David Finn
Associate Lighting design – Scott Bolman