NY1 - Recommended
"Van Hove does not reinvent so much as he distills...The lead performers are most impressive...Ben Whishaw with Sophie Okonedo as John and Elizabeth Proctor share a raw intensity that burns through our collective consciousness long after the final curtain...Purists may balk at Van Hove's tinkering and some of the effects seemed unnecessary, but Miller's message, that society can be just as blind as justice, comes through clear and resonant as ever."
NorthJersey - Not Recommended
"Van Hove's staging of the play certainly has its imaginative moments...These elements don't come across as a grand reimagining of Miller's play, but, rather, as taking advantage of opportunities for quick-hit imagery and symbolism...What's surprising is how lacking in intensity and dramatic development the normally devastating tale is—except for a shattering final scene...The production fails to build a head of steam."
Village Voice - Somewhat Recommended
"The classroom setting is a resonant choice, as so many Americans encounter the play in high schools. Lucid naturalistic acting mingles with delightfully surreal, melodramatic effects: heavy underscoring, steaming cauldrons, glimpses of a young woman flying. But these suggestive flourishes don't alter the play's sentimentality, moralism, and uneasy gender politics...Van Hove's faithful production can't patch the cracks in Miller's conceit."
Financial Times - Highly Recommended
"Van Hove has once again pulled off an inspired reimagining of a theatrical classic, which takes a little time to find its rhythm during the first scene, but then canters briskly along throughout the final two hours...The play itself no longer feels quite as urgent as it must have done when first performed at the height of the McCarthyite witch-hunts in 1953. But 'The Crucible' remains a powerful allegory about the temptations of groupthink and how little protection the law can provide."
The Guardian - Somewhat Recommended
"Uncanniness is everywhere in Ivo van Hove's probing yet flawed revival...It appears overly reliant on theatrical tricks and somehow incomplete, an exploration of a piece of dramatic literature rather than a fully realized embodiment of or challenge to it. But it is nearly always visually interesting and the actors often bring a really startling emotional intimacy to the work...Much of the play's tragic intensity has slipped away and the whole lacks any real sense of moral hazard or horror."
Telegraph - Recommended
"This is a topical take on 'The Crucible'...The onetime doyen of the Off Broadway avant-garde seems intent on honouring the spirit of a playwright whose greatness can occasionally come at a ponderous price. There's no hint of ponderousness here, though, where the air is charged with the chill winds of chaos...No amount of directorial tweaks or innovations would matter without a cast able to transform an often worthy play into one that is properly wounding."
CurtainUp - Highly Recommended
"This is the best, most riveting version of the play I've seen...This just-as-long version is consistently forceful and lightning fast...The entire 38-strong cast vividly give life to their characters...However, van Hove and designer Versweyveld once again give in to their occasional lapse into theatrical overkill...That said, these are minor complaints in the light of a thoroughly satisfying new look at an enduringly absorbing and provocative play."
TheaterScene.net - Recommended
"Without the Puritan costumes that further distance the modern audience from this play, the actors were liberated to perform with a gritty naturalism...Van Hove's stylistic direction was specific and original in terms of choices, very clear in helping his vision but not clear in helping the story necessarily...Van Hove has succeeded for the second time at bringing raw, new life to Arthur Miller's plays. This production had the essential materials to captivate the modern audience."
Huffington Post - Somewhat Recommended
"For 'The Crucible,' it feels as if van Hove has reverted to his previous attack, although I'm not sure I know what subtextual element(s) he's stressing...The cast members aren't so much giving a performance of Miller's 'Crucible' as they are in the process of rehearsing it...They all do their best within the limitations van Hove imposes...Perhaps Miller's somehow sad achievement is that as society evolves, 'The Crucible' will continue relevant to whatever is unfolding at whatever era."
Theatre Reviews Limited - Recommended
"You either appreciate van Hove's daring choices or find them a bit self-important. I confess I am somewhere in the middle...The director's interpretation manages to make the experience simultaneously historic and resonant...What does work here are the performances...The direction seems aimless at times, particularly in the second act...This is not lively theatre for the restless attention span. But those who remain and commit can hear a pin drop for most of the two hours and 50 minutes."
Broadway Blog - Highly Recommended
"I directed a production of 'The Crucible' thirty years ago and have seen several since, but van Hove's, despite its wildly mixed reviews, and some questionable choices, is the most powerful, riveting, and provocative of them all...The magnetic pull of van Hove's 'The Crucible' is so strong, even at two hours and forty-five minutes, and its universal message so piercing, that such directorial slip-ups can be forgiven. Clearly, Arthur Miller's play has withstood the crucible of time."
Towle Road - Not Recommended
"Van Hove brings his signature flair for Greek Drama to the story...The production is stylized to a fault and includes several moments of visually stunning stagecraft...The icy, high-concept treatment throws certain of Miller's themes into dramatic relief. But it also tends drown out the subtlety of the human drama, leaving little room for the nuances that make the characters actually feel human...Shovels on much food for thought, but there is a palpable sense of relief when the curtain drops."
Front Row Center - Not Recommended
"The actors' interactions with one another, despite the fact that all of them give very fine performances, appear choreographed rather than organic...Aided by the unrelenting score that serves the dual functions of driving the audience batty and masking much of the dialog, this production nearly sucks the wind out of our collective sails...This production, for all the sound and fury spread about the stage and flying in through the windows, ends up signifying nothing."
StageZine - Recommended
"The focus is on the paranormal and the creep factor...Mr. van Hove's touches may seem affected, but this remains a gripping, intense piece of theater...The 'mean girls' of Salem give some of the show's best performances...However, there are inconsistencies in the casting of other roles...This revival won't please Miller purists. It might outrage some. Regardless, the most telling aspect of 'The Crucible' is how much the message holds up today, even in a production as unconventional as this."
DC Metro Theater Arts - Recommended
"Van Hove has taken a powerful script and infused it with visions of his own...His cast is powerful and commanding...It has power but I believe it would have more if it were less blunt. The final scene between John Proctor and his wife is touching and beautifully played, but it comes at the end of a very long evening, one that might be trimmed to suit the thought that sometimes less is more...'The Crucible' will provoke you, but if you're prepared for that, there are rewards waiting for you."
NJ.com - Recommended
"His approach is alternately striking, lugubrious, and fruit loopy...Whether van Hove is succeeding in his stated goal of stripping away theatrical conventions and cutting to the heart of classic drama—or, in fact, is doing the opposite, and serving up a 'Crucible' that is affected and artificial—probably comes down to your personal taste...If all of the disparate pieces never quite fit together, you can do a lot worse than an audacious production of a built-to-last masterpiece."
BroadwaySelect - Not Recommended
"This time Ivo van Hove has gone too far...His take on 'The Crucible' is sterile, low-octane slow, badly staged, an assault on eyes and ears as well as horribly misconceived...In a play where everyone should have people almost atop each other, the stage is big enough to host an Arena Football game...There isn't enough face-to-face in-your-face conflict...The rest of the cast is fine, and all deserve to be in a traditional production, or, at the very least, one less misconceived than van Hove's."
Broadway World - Somewhat Recommended
"Ivo van Hove's tackling of Arthur Miller's classic seems rather tame...There appears to be a sincere effort to work with the material, rather than completely overwhelm it with his scarcely related vision...By the play's end van Hove seems to be telling us that, yes, the devil is at work here, undercutting the playwright's intention. While there's a cold distancing throughout the evening that keeps the production from fully engaging, there are still numerous good points."
