(This review may contain spoilers).
If the Holocaust is evidence of the evil one man can be responsible for, I think the witch trials are evidence of the kind of evil a group of people can do.
I found this play really intense to watch. One thing that really struck me was the passion the actors displayed. I could really believe in the roles they were portraying.
I recognised Richard Armitage and felt that his character’s interactions with the others were particularly intriguing. I really didn’t like Abigail’s character… or Mary’s, either, though I found it interesting how Mary’s character seemed to abandon her morals and ethics, at the same time as Hale seemed to find his.
One of the things I felt was quite powerful in this was how the violence wasn’t actually shown, or heard… but because I knew it was happening, it was much more effective. I think what you don’t see works better in many ways.
There were some things I did see coming, but they didn’t really lose their effectiveness. The lighting worked really well to set up the atmosphere, too.
It was quite clear that each of the characters were passionate in their own way. There were a lot of elements in this that were really hard-hitting. I also felt there were a lot of really emotional scenes in this. I liked the relationship between Proctor and his wife… in a way, it was like he put her on a pedestal.
I don’t think this is a play I’d watch again, but it was intense to watch and the ending was particularly moving.
