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Live screenings of The Old Vic’s Crucible announced

November 11, 2014

The Old Vic’s production of The Crucible starring Richard Armitage will be screened in cinemas around the UK in December

Collaborating with DigitalTheatre.com and CinemaLive, The Old Vic is set to screen its critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in cinemas all over the UK on Thursday 4 and Sunday 7 December 2014.

Starring Richard Armitage (The Hobbit and Into The Storm) as John Proctor, this sold-out, visceral production of Miller’s classic play directed by Yaël Farber will be shown in over 350 cinemas across the country for two nights only.

This event will mark the first time Digital Theatre, a company that has filmed productions starring the likes of Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor, has worked with The Old Vic.

A partially fictional but utterly powerful story following the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693, The Crucible draws parallels with the McCarthy communist witch hunts of the Cold War and has earned a status as one of the most important and powerful plays ever written. Set in a small and tight-knit community, the story follows grudges and personal relationships as they collide with superstition, escalating to widespread hysteria. A timeless tale, the play attacks the ever-current issue of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.

With the intent of giving every viewer the ‘best seat in the house’ experience, Digital Theatre’s executive producer Tom Shaw said he also hopes to extend the reach and accessibility of the best of British theatre, and build new audiences as they go. And the project holds great promise, as this show is one of the most successful in The Old Vic’s history; it ran earlier this year at The Old Vic, winning generous praise for the design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting by Tim Lutkin, music and sound by Richard Hammarton and movement by Imogen Knight.

With Kevin Spacey as artistic director, the theatre has thrived in recent years and attracted some of the best creative talent in the industry and its production of Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson was a five-star runaway hit, and as one of London’s oldest theatres, has been a landmark of the city for nearly 200 years.

John Richardson, Producer at The Old Vic said “Yaël Farber’s mesmerising five star production of The Crucible is one of the most successful and most acclaimed in The Old Vic’s history. We are excited to finally be sharing one of the theatrical events of a decade with audiences across the country, thanks to our friends at DigitalTheatre.com and CinemaLive. Arthur Miller’s chilling, powerful and legendary work is truly a play for our times.”