The Crucible

It’s one of the all-time classics. The Crucible. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece that details the Salem witch trials is both chilling and fascinating, just like Aurora Theatre Hong Kong’s upcoming adaptation of the story that hits the stage at Hong Kong Repertory Black Box Theatre in Sheung Wan between February 16 and 19. Nicole Garbellini directs the play for Aurora, which is an an independent theatre company that aims to promote English-language shows among the local Hong Kong art scene.

The acting groups sets the scene for us: “The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1662, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of the wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller’s edgy masterpiece, that very belief has poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village. First produced in 1953, at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witch-hunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, and personal spite and collective evil. It’s a play that’s not only relentlessly suspenseful and vastly moving, but it compels readers to fathom their hearts and consciences in ways that only the greatest theatre ever can.” Couldn’t have put it better ourselves…