Set in a time fraught with both deep-rooted faith and suspicion, The Crucible is Arthur Miller’s allegorical play about the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in 1695. It could ask for no greater justice than Bedlam Theatre gives it.

From the moment the bleak lights come on until the drumbeats roll, the intensity and drive of the play is built and maintained. It is revealed during the exposition that, the previous night, Abigail Williams (Louise Alder) and other young women of the town had been involved in attempted witchcraft. To save themselves from censure, the young women begin to cry witch against countless members of the town, who face hanging unless they "confess" to an affiliation with Satan and profess the guilt of another.

At the centre of the story are the characters of John and Elizabeth Proctor – a farmer and his wife. While John (Nick Kay) projects a commanding sense of authority and self assurance, he is a man riddled with the guilt of his adultery with Abigail some time previously. When Elizabeth (Holly McLay), becomes accused of witchcraft by Abigail and the other girls, John’s guilt and passions are let loose as the play moves towards its terrifying conclusion.

The strengths of this production lie in the austere set, creating the claustrophobic and interrogatory feel of the play, as well as purposeful direction by Colleen Patterson, which lends the play its sense of desperation. The performances of the two leads, however, are at the heart of the play’s success. The raw intensity of Nick Kay’s John Proctor and the desolate strength of Holly McLay’s Elizabeth Proctor are nothing short of breathtaking.

EUTC’s production goes beyond the allegory of the McCarthy trials of the 1950s to explore human guilt, fear, terror, and unspoken passion. The production casts aside unnecessary fripperies and excesses to expose the bare force of the play, engaging the audience so wholly that there is frustrated laughter and crying, and we are left with a haunting feeling. There is no need to call out, like Giles Corey, "more weight": this production has certainly captured in full the play’s power.