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A HOTHOUSE atmosphere of fear, persecution, and resultant retreat into self preservation is at the heart of The Crucible, set in 17th century Salem.

Arthur Miller's inspiration to write his classic play was the anti-communist witch hunt of the 1950s led by Joseph McCarthy, and it's relevant today in the age of terrorism.

When Betty Paris, the daughter of the town's Reverend falls strangely ill after a late night dancing in the forest with cousin Abigail, her father Samuel fears Becky's condition might be considered by towns people an act of witch craft – precisely what happens.

Suddenly, the town is torn apart. People turn on each other in using zealous anti-witchcraft accusations to settle hidden agendas and in the process, turns sly Abigail into a very dangerous young woman.

Director Megan Dansie's period style production manages to be simultaneously intimate yet grand in scale.

She draws the audience around her wide sparse prosage stage setting letting them close to the action while having room to manage the 21-member cast.

After a shaky start, the actors begin to warm to and articulate with skill the many petty and deadly agendas set loose by witchcraft hysteria.

This is due to perfectly casting lead roles with actors capable of carrying Miller's fiercely probing writing, mitigating the weaker output created by some actor combinations.

Once Brain Godfrey as Deputy Governor Danforth makes his entrance, the full strength of Dansie's production comes to the fore.

Godfrey's magnificently charismatic judge and executioner becomes the fulcrum on which pivots unbridled fanaticism against reason.

John Rosen and Louise Brumby as John and Elizabeth Proctor are pitted against Danforth and Samuel Paris (Richard Gruca).

Their richly warm, human characters strike at the heart, particularly Brumby's outstandingly delicate, deftly assured performance.

Caught in the middle, Siobhan Docherty's Abigail offers the right level of impassioned amorality but at times needs to control her performance more.

This enthralling but slow-burning production punches well above its weight at amateur theatre level thanks to actors such as Brumby, Rosen and Godfrey, who I'd like to see working as professional actors.

DAVID O'BRIEN

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