JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN Previews- Page 4

[raddersons]

Posted: 4/14/25 at 11:21am

Other students already don’t believe it’s true, or see the parallels between him and their own personal stories where other men are similarly villainized. It’s believable for him to still be there; I had a scandal similar to this in my high school and you better believe a teacher who people love and been there for 10+ years has immense influence to stay. Even though the writing is on the wall about the truth, people still choose to believe the false narrative especially with someone who’s a “nice guy.”  I think the biggest question the play raises is, do you choose to fight back to believe the uncomfortable truth or do you believe the narrative given to you?

It’s why The Crucible tie-in works so well. Should we be teaching critical thinking in school or just teaching the lesson plan? Critical thinking hurts bad people in charge. It’s why conservatives gut education. 

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/14/25 at 1:56pm

 

 

Updated On: 4/14/25 at 01:56 PM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/14/25 at 3:37pm

I'm also curious, was John Proctor usually taught to be the hero in the play?  When I read The Crucible I seem to remember he was discussed as a "complex protagonist" but not necessarily hero since you could argue his actions are quite selfish.  But when Mr. Smith calls him that I'm not sure if that's meant to be revealing of his character individually or just a general sentiment around the character.  Perhaps it's also semantics in just referring to the main character as a hero but I remember having discussions about how he's not all that great of a person

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/14/25 at 3:54pm

I had this discussion with a friend last night. I’ve been “taught” the play twice in my life and been part of a couple in depth lectures/discussions and I’m struggling to remember if I ever heard Proctor referred to as a Hero, in any way. 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/14/25 at 4:18pm

This sounds very Biden/Harris... a single-minded focus on neoliberal identity politics that seems oblivious to historic warnings about the lure and power of state authoritarianism. 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 4/14/25 at 4:31pm

sinister teashop said: "This sounds very Biden/Harris... a single-minded focus on neoliberal identity politics that seems oblivious tohistoric warnings about the lure and power of state authoritarianism."

Why yes, the play IS about women.

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/15/25 at 1:09am

Suggestion as to which house side to sit for easiest/quickest stage door access? Will have my 12/yr daughter with me and I know she’d love to if nothing else see them emerge. Pretty sure it’s in the Alley so house left maybe?

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/15/25 at 1:17am

Jordan Catalano said: "I had this discussion with a friend last night. I’ve been “taught” the play twice in my life and been part of a couple in depth lectures/discussions and I’m struggling to remember if I ever heard Proctor referred to as a Hero, in any way."

I was taught the play, and I myself have taught the play, and you'd have to be real dense to turn Proctor into the hero, and what a disservice to Arthur Miller's brilliant play!

That said, he could be viewed as a victim, and I have emphasized him as more of a tragic loser, so I think theres something behind portraying him as the villain (I have not seen this play so I dont know quite how they get there, though I can imagine). I hope to catch this but if the point is that The Crucible is actually an overtly sexist or "cancelable" work, ill roll my eyes hard. 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 4/15/25 at 1:41am

Play Esq. said: "TotallyEffed said: "I thought this was great. A lot of plays recently have felt like preaching to the choir- a woke play for a woke audience but in this case it didn’t bother me too much. It’s precise, very funny, and entertaining. It started to feel a bit long to me around the gas station scene on the lip of the stage. But then the final performance took place and I found myself in tears along with the women surrounding me.



The audience wasn’t super well behaved."

This almost across the board, but need to emphasize: there is almost no justification for a two hour intermission-less play, and this play is no exception. The playwright could easily have cut 20 minutes or more and the audience would miss nothing."

You can’t sit still for 2 hours? Have you never been to the cinema?