As Mr. Smith begins his study of The Crucible, he obviously sets his syllabus to the parallels of the McCarthy era like any good English teacher would, but the girls in the classroom push for a different direction.  They want to take a feminist view and don’t see how a man (John Proctor in Crucible) who sleeps with a girl close to 50 years younger than he is – hired to do house work in his own home – could ever be seen as a literary hero even though in the final pages of the Crucible he is portrayed that way – – as a man fighting to sacrifice all for the truth.  Ironically Mr. Smith, their teacher, is rather supportive of their views and even volunteers to become their sponsor for their feminist club

Then, through the return of a student back from a short stay in rehabilitation, Mr. Smith is dramatically and most ironically pointed out as her rapist!  Now, who do you believe?  The young student who has proven mental issues?  The teacher who is the most successful, popular teacher on campus?  What happens to the “hysteria” of the young girls and the “hero worship” afforded the teacher?  This becomes the dramatic fodder for the majority of the play and the reason you just cannot take your eyes off the stage.

The play ends with a joint interpretive project that encapsulates the girls take on The Crucible and provides the play a climactic catharsis on a parallel of The Crucible’s opening of girls dancing “naked and wild in the woods.”  Of course,  we realize this dance is short lived as Mr. Smith has been reinstated and the world of #MeToo is still out of reach for these young girls.

Wow!  Just Wow!  This play!  Just Wow!