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A Crucible of Teen Drama: John Proctor Is the Villain
When the stressors in Arthur Miller’s play and the ones in a classroom full of high-schoolers collide.
In John Proctor Is the Villain, Kimberly Belflower’s angry, funny, and excellent new play, both the surprise and the real potency of the title lie in how quickly its moment zips by — the speed with which the phrase bubbles up as an idea and, perhaps even more crucially, with which it’s dismissed. Mr. Smith is the type who charms kids no matter where they are on the sexual-awakening continuum: The willowy, would-be-worldly Ivy (Maggie Kuntz) and smart, straight-shooting transfer student Nell (Morgan Scott) titter about his sweatpants when he’s out of the room while the anxious, straight-A addict Beth (Fina Strazza) wriggles in protest: “You guys, stop! Oh my God.” One of the sharp, sad jokes of John Proctor is that Beth and her friends have been attempting to start a “feminism club” (to “spread awareness, foster dialogue, and ignite change,” its founder recites with college-application zeal), but life’s everyday misogynies keep getting in the way.
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