THE CRUCIBLE
Theatre
“NSD performing Arthur Miller’s The Crucible under Amitesh Grover’s moving direction.” — The Deccan Harald
“The Crucible is about the nature of justice and about an individual’s conscience” — The Indian Express
Set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible unfolds during the infamous witch trials that consumed an entire community. When a group of young girls are caught dancing in the forest, their fear of punishment spirals into accusations of witchcraft. What begins as a childish lie soon ignites hysteria, as neighbours turn on one another and private guilt is transformed into public outrage. At the centre stands John Proctor, a farmer struggling to reconcile his integrity with his past mistakes. As the courts, led by the unyielding Judge Danforth and the fervent Reverend Parris, tighten their grip, Proctor and his wife Elizabeth are drawn into a storm of suspicion and moral reckoning. The Crucible remains a searing study of fear, faith, and conscience — a warning about what happens when collective panic replaces truth, and when moral certainty becomes a mask for desire, envy, and vengeance.
Director’s Note
What does it take for a community to turn against itself? What invisible fears can make neighbours, friends, and lovers into accusers and enemies? These questions, burning at the heart of The Crucible, are questions for our own times. The Crucible speaks of any society where suspicion replaces truth, where fear becomes a weapon, and where the noise of accusation drowns the quiet voice of reason. In our world today — a world hyperconnected yet deeply divided — witch-hunts continue under new names. Rumour travels faster than fact; reputations are destroyed in seconds; and moral certainty, once again, becomes a tool of control. We have only changed the arena — the village square has turned into a digital feed, the gallows into a trending hashtag, and confessions into public spectacles of shame. This production asks: What happens when the act of speaking truth becomes the most dangerous rebellion of all? The play’s hysteria is not just political — it is profoundly human.
In bringing this work to our stage, we have sought to hold a mirror to our own time — to the noise of our public discourse, the fragility of truth, and the courage it takes to stand apart. The Crucible, ultimately, is not a play about witches. It is about conscience. It is about the terrible beauty of saying “No” when the world demands you say “Yes.”
Direction Amitesh Grover
Translation Sarah Mariam | Assistant Direction & Set Design Sarthak Narula | Movement Composition Uma Katju | Costumes Kriti V Sharma | Lights Saras Kumar | Music Abhishek Kaushal | Film Siddharth Rawal
CAST
Pankaj Kumar Sharma Rev. Samuel Parris | Shardha Betty | Bharati Boruah Tituba, Girl | Aditian Kalta Abigail Williams | Zainab Ali Khan Ann Putnam, Sarah Good, Girl / Elizabeth Proctor | Abhay Dutt Bajpai Thomas Putnam / Judge Hathorne | Mamta Jaiswar Mary Warren / Rebecca Nurse | Anshika Mishra Rebecca Nurse / Mary Warren | Vansh Malhotra John Proctor | Jishnu Thamoi Giles Corey | Ishan Jindal Rev. John Hale | Sai Pratibha Elizabeth Proctor / Ann Putnam, Sarah Good, Girl | Sunil Bhadu Ezekiel Cheever / Deputy Governor Danforth | Satyam Mishra Deputy Governor Danforth / Ezekiel Cheever
Language: Hindi. Duration: 2.5 hour (with an interval).
