IntroductionThe Crucible is unarguably one of the greatest plays of the last century. Although written over fifty years ago, and in a very different post-war world, the fact that it is continually revived, in countries from China to America, speaks volumes for its lasting ability to reflect issues of continuing relevance and concern. It explores a community thrown, by the careless actions of rebellious youth, into a crisis precipitated by its adults’ inflexible adherence to a fundamentalist ideology. People constantly compete to occupy the moral high ground, but are invariably inflexible when it comes to climbing down. It is a play about communities and what can happen to them when they are unable to admit difference, and are afraid of the Other. But at its centre is the story of a broken marriage, of what happens when one individual betrays another, and how both seek moral redemption through their willingness to sacrifice their own lives for the sake of principle. |  | |