The cast of The Crucible performing on the stage at Shakespeare's Globe
Zadie Loft
June 26, 2025

‘Whose freedom would you sacrifice for your own?’: Performing The Crucible in 2025

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This production of The Crucible is staged at The Globe, and on the press night, there were quite a few helicopters flying over – which some of the cast had fun with. What is it like to perform this play on such an intimate and historic stage, particularly one that’s open-air?

Hannah Saxby: It’s a dream come true. The Globe has been a dream theatre to act in, and to get to do it with this part and this play is honestly unbelievable.

Phoebe Pryce: It’s a total joy and a real privilege. The audience are another character in the play; they tell you what it’s about and that shifts from show to show, which is thrilling and certainly keeps us on our toes. As does contending with the elements, you never know what the skies may throw your way, which is why I feel so incredibly lucky to be working with such a wonderful group of people who are ready to grapple with storms and helicopters alike.

What was it like to stage the play?

Hannah: It was a challenge as the space is so big and there are pillars to manoeuvre around. If too much of the action occurs within the pillars, some of the audience’s view is blocked, so we had to rehearse with that in mind. There is also a lot of possibility with the space, so we spent time early on in rehearsals working out how best to use it and experimenting with putting actors in different areas of the audience at different points in the play.

A lady hissed at me in the court scene once, which was so great!

Phoebe: You sort of have to fight your instincts a bit when you get into the space. You have to find a way to fill the distance between you and the other actors required to reach all of the audience while keeping the intimacy and nuance required to tell Miller’s painfully human story. Thankfully, we had quite a few previews to figure that out.

Phoebe Pryce as Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible at Shakespeare's Globe (c. Marc Brenner)
Phoebe Pryce as Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible at Shakespeare’s Globe (c. Marc Brenner)

There was a lot of laughter from the audience. This production seems to bring out more of the play’s absurdity and humour, as well as its horrors. What did you make of this? Were there any laughs from the audience that surprised you?

Hannah: The laughter really surprised me. Globe audiences are very vocal, which is really fun because it genuinely changes the tone of each show. They have a personality and make their opinions known (a lady hissed at me in the court scene once, which was so great!). I think because they are so exposed and involved in the action, they feel inclined to react more vocally than you would at your average theatre, where everyone is sat in the dark. Also, in a play like The Crucible that deals with such heavy themes and can feel incredibly tense, people will take all the laughs they can get.

Phoebe: I think it’s always important to have a balance of both. The humour only serves to highlight the horrors of the piece.

Arthur Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, but, of course, it’s been continually reinterpreted. The Globe has called The Crucible a ‘timely thriller’ – why do you think the play is being put on now?

Hannah: It’s a timeless play which grapples with huge questions concerning morality and integrity and what it means to live in a way that’s true and honest. It poses the question ‘Whose freedom would you sacrifice for your own?’ and asks what it means to live if you have made that sacrifice. John Proctor has a line – ‘I have three children – how may I teach them to walk like men in the world when I have sold my friends?’ – and it always rings out to me every night. Arthur Miller’s writing is just so beautiful and perfectly constructed.

If we could only take heed of the lessons that history has attempted to teach us.

Phoebe: I often wish it wasn’t the case, but it feels as relevant now as it did when Arthur Miller wrote it. It’s an obvious thing to say but bad things happen when people are afraid, oppressed and silenced. If we could only take heed of the lessons that history has attempted to teach us.

What conversations have come up in rehearsal surrounding the play’s themes and subject matter?

Hannah: We had lots of conversations about what life was like in Salem at that time and the role women played within that society. Also, about the constant sense of impending attack they lived under, from both natural and supernatural forces and how real the threat of the supernatural was for them in 1692.

Phoebe: To my shame, I had never fully understood the plight to the women in this play. Particularly the young women. The reasons why they act the way they do. They live in a world where they have no voice. They are finally being listened and for that, I can forgive them an enormous amount.

Hannah Saxby as Abigail Williams in The Crucible at Shakespeare's Globe (c. Marc Brenner)
Hannah Saxby as Abigail Williams in The Crucible at Shakespeare’s Globe (c. Marc Brenner)

Hannah, you play Abigail Williams, and Phoebe, you play Elizabeth Proctor – how did you both find depths to your characters? How far do you feel Abigail and Elizabeth are victims, silent enforcers or exploiters of their society?

Hannah: Abigail is complicated, and it’s hard to work out why she does what she does sometimes. In the writing, she has such a need to be loved as well as a need to survive. She is an orphan, who witnessed her parents’ deaths. She has been told she is ‘wicked’ since the day she was born and has spent her life bearing the shame of sin. In the play, we meet her in the aftermath of her relationship with John Proctor who showed her love and ‘put knowledge in (her) heart’ – ultimately enlightening her to the hypocrisy of the people who shame her but are themselves imperfect sinners too.

I could talk about this all day, clearly, but ultimately she is a survivor in a society where you will be severely punished or killed for transgression – I like to think of her as less calculated and manipulative (which she can be) but instinctive and impulsive, reacting to circumstances to save herself. She moves from being a victim who was sold a lie by someone who she believed loved her to someone who obtains some power which unfortunately spins out of control – exacerbated by the judges and older men in the society.

Phoebe: Arthur Miller gives you a great deal to work with – he’s pretty good that guy. But of course, you meet all of these characters at a high-octane moment so we spent time looking into how they got to that place, giving them full backstories to hopefully give these moments the richness they deserve.

Do you think Abigail believes in the witchcraft she’s accusing others of, or is it entirely strategic?

Phoebe: I might leave Hannah to answer this one…

Hannah: That’s for audiences to decide!

I think I’m right in saying that your two characters never interact in a scene. Did you rehearse together at all? Did you explore the relationship between your two characters?

Hannah: We didn’t have much time to explore Abigail and Elizabeth’s relationship as our characters don’t interact onstage. Very early on in an R&D workshop, we did an exercise exploring what the dynamic would’ve been between Abby, John and Elizabeth when Abby worked for them. But mainly it was just trying to build the image internally of what Abigail believes Elizabeth to be based on what she says about her.

Phoebe: I really had to work on finding any kind of aversion to Abigail because Hannah is the absolute best. But truthfully, I think that’s really important, Ola helped us to build a huge amount of trust and support for each other during rehearsals, which I think only serves us on stage and makes us able to go to those places each day.

Best of luck with the rest of the show’s run! As a final questions, what are some things you’ve learned while putting this show on?

Hannah: I have learnt so much about Arthur Miller and the fascinating context surrounding the play. I also feel like every show, I am still learning to find the balance of conveying my character’s internal thoughts and feelings in such a big space, as well as simply learning to project my voice so I can be heard!

Phoebe: How fortunate I feel to be telling this remarkable story in an equally astonishing space with such a brilliant group of people. And that I could never have anticipated how heartbreakingly relevant it would be.

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In London’s Globe Theatre, The Crucible runs until July 12.

Hannah Saxby was recently nominated for an Offie for ‘Best Newcomer’ for her performance in Some Demon. She trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama graduating in 2024.

Phoebe Pryce’s previous work at Shakespeare’s Globe includes The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice (which was also part of Shakespeare’s Globe’s International Tour). She has recently been performing in The Importance of Being Earnest (Royal Exchange, Manchester).


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