The Crucible, Starring Sophie Okonedo & Ben Whishaw, Finds Broadway Home; Full Cast Set

The upcoming production of Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible has found a new home. The drama, directed by Ivo van Hove and led by Ben Whishaw and Tony winner Sophie Okonedo, will play Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre. Performances are set to begin on February 29, 2016 with opening night scheduled for April 7.

Miller wrote The Crucible to parallel the McCarthyism of the 1950s. Set during the Salem witch trials of the 1690s, the play tells tales of morality, deceit and ignorance. The drama focuses on Abigail Williams (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman so obsessed with John Proctor (Whishaw) that she is determined to have his wife (Okonedo) burned at the stake.

In addition to Whishaw, Okonedo and Ronan, The Crucible will star the previously announced Ciarán Hinds, Bill Camp, Jim Norton, Tavi Gevinson and Jason Butler Harner. The production will also feature the newly announced Tina Benko, Teagle Bougere, Michael Braun, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, Jenny Jules, Thomas Jay Ryan, Elizabeth Teeter, Ray Anthony Thomas, Brenda Wehle and Erin Wilhelmi.

The Crucible will play a strictly limited 20-week engagement. The Walter Kerr’s current tenant, the Tony-winning musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, will close on January 17, 2016.