JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 12:00am

Sadie Sink is in her villain era.

The “Stranger Things” star returns to Broadway in the new play John Proctor is the Villain, starting previews tomorrow night (March 20) at the Booth Theatre. Written by Kimberly Belflower, the $6.7 million show — which brings the Arthur Miller classic into the present day — also features Nihar Duvvuri, Gabriel Ebert, Molly Griggs, Maggie Kuntz, Hagan Oliveras, Morgan Scott, Fina Strazza, and Amalia Yoo. John Proctor is the Villain officially opens on April 14 and runs through June 22; directing is Danya Taymor.

“At a high school in a rural town in Georgia, an English class is studying The Crucible, but the students are more preoccupied with navigating young love, sex ed, and a few school scandals. As they delve into the American classic, the students begin to question the play’s perspective and the validity of naming John Proctor the show’s hero.”

Is anyone here heading to homeroom?

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 12:22am

MERCH

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 11:03am

if anyone got the $29 tickets and wants to swap days, I have two tickets for April 4 that I might not be able to use anymore

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 3:12pm

Listed runtime on the website is approximately 100 minutes, no intermission. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 10:20pm

How was it, everyone?

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 10:40pm

Tonight the show ran closer to 2 hours (approx 1:55) - Started about 8-9 minutes past listed start time - 7:39p.

1st preview gift was a tote bag - yellow or pink - with the opposite color for text.  Text on one side, the logo "John Proctor is the Villain".  The other "GOODY BAG".  

Attached to tote a removable button "I saw goody Proctor at villain first preview."  The text is red with "villain" in white, on a black background.  Inside the tote, a small tri-fold card of Charlotte Tillery's scent (small spray pump) of  "Cosmic Power".  Note on the back of scent card.

Updated On: 3/20/25 at 10:40 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 10:41pm

I miss intermissions. :(

[Mitch101]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 12:47am

Best play of the season! I loved everything- from the incredible cast, the perfect direction and design. What I loved most was how fearless and in your face the play is. Does not apologize but isn’t polemic. Great art and very entertaining!

Some further thoughts:

The playwright never lets us see any character as just one thing. The layers are complicated and well earned.

The parallels to Crucible are incredible without being obvious, like The Inheritance was to Howards End (that was laborious). IYKYK.

The direction was brilliant, including trusting the script to do the work and not creating unnecessary stage business or movement. I was astonished to see scenes with the girls just standing absolutely still going through rapid fire dialogue.

The five young actresses are all award worthy. It’s impossible to pick one out. Sadie does the troubled girl thing perfectly, while the other four start out as clear archetypes and then burn that down. 
The finale is brilliant and wraps the play up in a way I haven’t experienced in the theatre in a long time. This is what made it a great play for me. 

Spoilers……

 

The ending succeeds here in a way it failed in The Minutes because we are set up over and over to explore dancing. They must mention it three times at least when discussing the Crucible. Whereas in The Minutes, it was a device to shock us with little basis in truth.

 

Updated On: 3/21/25 at 12:47 AM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 1:09am

Updated On: 3/21/25 at 01:09 AM

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 1:27am

CoffeeBreak said: "The set is detailed but reminiscent of New York schools, not Georgia. One of the missteps of the director and designer."

Always funny when that happens. I noticed it in JOB too. I'm from the Bay Area. I don't think I've ever seen a radiator there. 

[Ricey2]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 10:40am

I absolutely loved this last night and think that it took over my favorite play of the year too. That was such a cathartic night of the theatre. Being from the South in a very rural school, I thought it was pretty reminiscent of my classrooms, granted I have been out of high school for 10 years now. Maybe my memory is fuzzy.
 

I haven’t seen such layers characters with a dialogue that actually seems natural in so long. I will say that this extremely did pander to me as a lover of all of the pop culture references, but I think people without that knowledge would still love the absolute force on that stage. 

[Jeff Tupolski]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 3:48pm

Any standout performances? How’s Gabriel Ebert? I’ve always been a fan and would love to see him back in the Tony race again.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 4:53pm

I genuinely believe that this play and English might be two of my favorite plays of the last decade or so. 

But are they both going to be in the Best Play category? Wasn't John Proctor is the Villain written before the pandemic? And English 3 years ago?

I haven't seen Oh, Mary which I know a lot of people say is a Best Play contender but I can't imagine there's a third play that is THIS good this year. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 5:18pm

BroadwayGirl107 said: "I genuinely believe that this play and English might be two of my favorite plays of the last decade or so.

But are they both going to be in the Best Play category? Wasn't John Proctor is the Villain written before the pandemic? And English 3 years ago?

I haven't seen Oh, Mary which I know a lot of people say is a Best Play contender but I can't imagine there's a third play that is THIS good this year."

English is almost definitely going to be a new play, it's the same production that played before (same actors etc) so it's more of a transfer to Broadway rather than a revival.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 5:27pm

English premiered at The Atlantic Theater Off-Broadway in 2022 (dir Knud Adams).  It won the Pulitzer.   Subsequent productions in D.C. (2023) & and at the Goodman & Guthrie Theaters (both Dir. by Hamid Dehghani in2024) regional theaters prior to Roundabout/Atlantic production on Broadway again directed by Adams (2025).  English has a lot of upcoming productions in regional theaters. 

JPITV was workshopped extensively in numerous colleges in 2022 then produced at the Studio Theater (DC. Dir Marti Lyons) in 2022.   In 2024 it was directed by Margot Bordelon at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.  It's currently being produced by a lot of colleges (for obvious reasons) and regional theaters.  2025 - Broadway. 

 

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 7:19pm

I’m very happy for English and John Proctor to both be considered new plays (though I wish they could both walk away with the prize), but I’m curious what actually makes something a revival vs new in the Tony’s eyes. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 10:18pm

BroadwayGirl107 said: "I’m very happy for English and John Proctor to both be considered new plays (though I wish they could both walk away with the prize), but I’m curious what actually makes something a revival vs new in the Tony’s eyes."

They're definitely cagey about specifying their criteria, but if it's possible to see any previous productions as steps in a show's development process, they'll call it new, even if that process has taken quite a few years (see Harmony). That actually makes sense to me, and I think they're pretty consistent with drawing that (admittedly somewhat blurry) line.

[pupscotch]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 10:29pm

Saw this tonight and really really loved it. All the humor worked so well for me and the characters were fantastically complex and every emotional moment was so well earned. Especially loved Sink, Amalia Yoo, and Fina Strazza. The references might date this show quickly but this will have a massive life regionally and at schools.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/22/25 at 8:45am

Since I have never read it, I have decided to read The Crucible as a prelude to seeing this.  Amazingly the one and only copy at the NYPL is out.  I would have thought they’d have multiple copies but maybe it’s not taught as much. Anyway I just wanted to share that the Kindle edition is only .99.

[musicthatmakesmedance]

Posted: 3/22/25 at 9:04am

Caught this last night and thought it was really terrific. The performances/chemistry are exceptional across the board, as is the direction. The final 5 minutes left me with full-body chills.

[aliciag3]

Posted: 3/22/25 at 7:46pm

The extreme side orchestra seats are listed as partial view. Can anyone speak to how impacted the view may be or a better side to sit on? Thanks in advance!

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 3:39am

aliciag3 said: "The extreme side orchestra seats are listed as partial view. Can anyone speak to how impacted the view may be or a better side to sit on? Thanks in advance!"

Saw this partial view and you can’t see deep upstage but you won’t miss much. This play is excellent, contemporary and evocative. The Best Play Tony race shall be tight. This is a shoe in. 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:01am

Melissa25 said: "Since I have never read it, I have decided to read The Crucible as a prelude to seeing this. Amazingly the one and only copy at the NYPL is out. I would have thought they’d have multiple copies but maybe it’s not taught as much. Anyway I just wanted to share that the Kindle edition is only .99."

Or avoid paying .99 to a billionaire and read it on Archive.org which is an online lending library of digitized library books.

You do need to register for free and then the text is available for a loan period.

 https://archive.org/details/arthurmillerscol00mill/page/n5/mode/2up

Updated On: 3/23/25 at 11:01 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:34am

Thank you sinister teashop for that archive.org link!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/23/25 at 11:50am

I'm really surprised at the reaction here.  Granted, I saw this in Boston last year (?) and while I liked it well enough, I could't shake the feeling that it thought it was more meaningful than what was exhibited.   I think it was at the Huntington.   

Certainly could be the direction and/or cast - and certainly don't know if there was any work done on the script.   

 

Good to hear it's being well rec'd - even if my experience wasn't.