Reinvented Classics in Contemporary Theater

Becky Nurse of Salem by Sarah Ruhl

This play follows Becky, a descendent of accused witch Rebecca Nurse, a real person, and character in Miller’s The Crucible. Becky works at the local Salem witch museum and seems to be plagued by bad luck. Becky turns to a local witch for help and things take a darkly comedic turn.

Abigail by Sarah Tuft

A legendary stage actress hires her Hollywood director husband to revive The Crucible on Broadway. He casts a YouTube star as Abigail Williams, and her Gen Z sense of justice leads her to question the misogyny of Miller and his play, throwing the production into jeopardy. Abigail questions whether the art and artist can or should be separated and how intergenerational power and values factor into relationships between women.

Reading of Abigail by Sarah Tuft. Photo credit: sarahtuft.com

Jordan Slattery, Miranda Rizzolo, and Deidre Staples in John Proctor Is the Villain at Studio Theatre. Photo credit: Margot Schulman, Studio Theatre.

John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower

In John Proctor is the Villain, a contemporary high school class in Appalachia explores The Crucible. Due to events and a scandal in the community, study of the text becomes uncomfortable and eerily relevant. The line between witch and heroine blurs as the play examines power, sex education, and relationships.

Stupid F*king Bird by Aaron Posner

In this contemporary adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Seagull, playwright and director Con is struggling to write a new play. As he tries to create his new masterwork for his actress girlfriend, Nina, his aging Hollywood starlet mother becomes an interfering presence in the process. As Con questions the art of previous generations and tries to pursue his own, comedy ensues.

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris

In this partner to A Raisin in the Sun, playwright Bruce Norris places the action in the home that the Younger family is buying in 1959. The play introduces the current owners of the home, Russ and Bev, a white couple who have lost their son. Their neighbor arrives to tell them that he’s tried to buy off the Younger family to keep the Black family from buying the house. The second act of the play jumps fifty years into the future, when Clybourne park has become a mostly Black neighborhood and a young white couple wants to come in and tear down the home to build something new. The play examines racism, classism, and gentrification.

Grant Goodman, Marti Gobel, James T. Alfred, and Greta Wohlrabe in Clybourne Park at Milwaukee Rep. Photo credit: Michael Brosilow.

Julie White and Stephen McKinley Henderson in A Doll’s House, Part 2 on Broadway. Photo credit: Sara Krulwich, The New York Times. A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath

In this sequel to Ibsen’s classic drama, protagonist Nora Helmer returns fifteen years after leaving her stifling life behind. Nora has become a successful novelist, but the one thing she needs is an official divorce. Before she can get the signatures from Torvald that she needs, she must answer the queries of those she left behind.