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Playwright Kimberley Belflower’s drama John Proctor is the Villain was the big Broadway hit of 2025, a dazzlingly clever response to and remake of Arthur Miller’s landmark play The Crucible, set in a US high school, with added Taylor Swift songs.
And this spring, it’s heading our way. Although casting is TBA – it had Sadie Sink on Broadway, but won’t over here as she’s doing Romeo & Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre instead – Danya Taymor’s seven times Tony-nominated production is the one we’re getting, restaged at prestigious new writing theatre the Royal Court. It’ll play as part of its hugely exciting 70th anniversary season that also includes long-awaited returns to the London stage from Gary Oldman and Tilda Swinton.
Set in a school in a small town in rural Georgia, John Proctor… centres on five female classmates who are not only studying The Crucible, but get caught up in Crucible-like events as debate whether or the play’s nominal hero John Proctor is indeed the villain, as opposed to Abigail Williams, the young woman he has an affair with and then discards. This sharp, funny reimagining is fuelled by pop music, optimism and rage, as its protagonists expose the darkest secrets of their small town.
Tickets are going fast – and will go faster when the cast is announced – but with a high school setting and young vibe, the Royal Court Theatre and Time Out have teamed up to offer under-35s exclusive access to 2,000 tickets at £25 - your best chance to bag an affordable ticket one of 2026’s most exciting new openings.
All you need to do? Sign up here before midnight on Friday 30 January to receive the exclusive booking code.
John Proctor is the Villain is at the Royal Court Theatre, Mar 20-Apr 25. To sign up for £25 under-35s tickets, click here. For ‘regular’ ticket book here.
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