5 Reasons to See John Proctor Is the Villain on Broadway

How do you get young people to the theatre? It's a question that's been asked over and over again by everyone from actors to producers to other audience members. Well, the play John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower may have the answers.

The play opened April 14 at the Booth Theatre. From the Gen Z-coded language to the pop culture references to the young, talented cast (led by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink in a welcomed return to Broadway after a decade)—this dramedy is bringing the youths in droves, causing laughter and gasps in the audience at a recent performance. "But wait," you may think, "I thought this play was about The Crucible." Yes, and.

Below are five reasons you, and the young people in your life, should see John Proctor Is the Villain.

1. It's a Smart Response to The Crucible

Let's get the Arthur Miller of it all out of the way. Yes, the title of John Proctor Is the Villain is a reference to Miller's play, a required reading in many high schools. In Belflower's play, a group of teenagers are assigned The Crucible in their English class. But upon reading it, the girls in the class realize that they disagree with what their teacher, Mr. Smith (an extremely well-cast Gabriel Ebert), tells them about the play. This questioning of authority unravels a whole host of other questions for these youngsters.

If you're the person who first read The Crucible and disagreed with the traditional interpretations of it—the one that positioned John Proctor as a righteous and tragic hero, and Abigail Williams as a conniving liar—then Belflower's play is for you. It theorizes that perhaps, The Crucible may be more complex than it's become in popular culture. Considering how classics are often flattened and simplified, this reinterpretation may make you want to reread The Crucible with fresh eyes.

Company of *John Proctor is the Villain* Julieta Cervantes

2. The Ensemble Cast

Though Sadie Sink is the star driving ticket sales to John Proctor Is the Villain, the show is actually an ensemble piece. The Crucible is a jumping off point; John Proctor is actually a coming-of-age story about a group of teenage girls—portraying those emotionally intense friendship dynamics with such accuracy, I was feeling sympathy pains. Sink plays Shelby, the school's outcast who yearns to reconnect with her old friends. Sink gives a moving and endearing performance (and showcases her comedy chops in a way she rarely gets to do on Stranger Things). The rest of the cast also have ample opportunity to shine. Amalia Yoo makes a revelatory Broadway debut as the shy Raelynn, who comes from a religious family but is uncertain of her own beliefs now that she's growing up. Though she's a newcomer to Broadway, Yoo more than holds her own in her scenes opposite Sink. Former Matilda Fina Strazza also makes a welcomed return to Broadway as the neurotic Beth, a straight-A student overcome with insecurities—Strazza has a majority of the laugh lines in the show but her sympathetic portrayal means the audience is always laughing with her.

Next to The Outsiders, the cast of John Proctor Is the Villain is the most impressive roster of young actors currently working right now.

3. The Pitch Perfect Gen Z Representation

John Proctor Is the Villain is set in 2018 in a Georgia high school, meaning the characters in it are firmly Gen Z. It's rare to see a work written for mass audiences that speak about young people without talking down to them, making fun of them, or over-sexualizing them. Belflower, who is a Millennial, impressively avoids all of those pitfalls. Her play is filled with pop culture references from Twilight to Taylor Swift, making it immediately relatable to the under-40 set. But it's not just hip for the sake of being hip. The play is also a smart portrayal of contemporary high schoolers, who are aware of the progressive buzzwords on the Internet (such as feminism and #MeToo) but are also trying to reconcile that knowledge with the more traditional community they are growing up in. How do you take what you've seen online and apply it to your own life, where your present circumstances might make such viewpoints awkward at best and ostracizing at worse? It's a story not just for teenage girls, but anyone who's trying to navigate our fast-paced culture, where terminology and norms seem to change on a dime.

There's also an interpretive dance moment featuring Lorde's hit song "Green Light" that will make you want to cheer, and sing along.

Sadie Sink and Amalia Yoo in *John Proctor is the Villain* Julieta Cervantes

4. A Welcomed New Voice

According to Broadway Licensing Global, who licenses John Proctor Is the Villain, the play has been produced 113 times since its premiere in 2022—mostly in colleges, a testament to the play's empathetic depiction of young people. It also shows that in this instance, New York is behind the curve; this Broadway production of John Proctor Is the Villain marks Belflower's New York debut, introducing a fresh new voice to the scene that is reminiscent of Heidi Schreck and Clare Barron. And considering how complex, heartfelt, and funny John Proctor is, other major New York theatres (I'm looking at you Playwrights Horizons) would do well to produce more of Belflower's plays. John Proctor Is the Villain even has an interpretative dance break, showing that this playwright can do weird in the way that is perfect for any hip venue in Brooklyn.

5. It's Cathartic

The Crucible, #MeToo—you may think this play is going to be a bummer, and possibly even triggering (and yes, it does talk about sexual assault). But John Proctor Is the Villain isn't a play about trauma. Instead, by focusing it on young women as they're processing the confusing realities they living in—it gives those of us in the audience, of all ages, space to process as well. Considering that it is a very tense time to be a woman in America, we all need it. The play tackles some heavy topics with a gentle touch, with the characters saying things that are cringe one moment, heartfelt the next. When the girls do a mass frustrated scream together, we want to do it with them. And after they scream, when they fall back down and laugh together, it's a reminder that even when things are frustrating and there's no answers to it...perhaps the only thing you can do is find some good friends, laugh, and dance. It's a green light for community (nay a coven), and that's the perfect realization to have in a theatre.

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