Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Francis Guinan, in the wholly unsympathetic role of Danforth, dominates the proceedings. It's not that Guinan humanizes Danforth. He can't. Miller wrote a melodrama. But Guinan has a delicious way of blending this character's scary surety with a clear demonstration of his internal lack of self-confidence. For much of the night, he evokes a senator caught in some red-faced act he can't bring himself to admit."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...in the hands of director Anna D. Shapiro (already Broadway-bound with Steppenwolf's new hit, "August: Osage County") and her fiery cast of 20, "The Crucible" takes on a whole new clarity, depth and contemporaneity, and becomes compulsively watchable. Not only has Shapiro illuminated the complex weave of causes behind the witchcraft hysteria, she and her actors have found a way to punch through the distancing formality of the Puritan locutions so that the emotional content dominates, and the play radiates an intensely modern energy."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Anna D. Shapiro's exceptionally well-done revival -- the inaugural production in its season-long examination of what it means to be an American -- reflects the strong acting and assured direction for which Steppenwolf is known. It's not a revelation, but a confirmation, which is all this timeless tale needs."
SouthtownStar
- Highly Recommended
"...Remounted skillfully by director Anna D. Shapiro with Steppenwolf's extraordinary ensemble decked out in Virgil Johnson's puritanical costumes in Todd Rosenthal's towering rough-hewn gray wooden set, the drama unfolds with fiery intensity."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Scenic designer Todd Rosenthal's spartan clapboard set packs the town's paranoia, hypocrisy, and betrayals into a sealed attic, where everyone's perspective is foreshortened; the most persuasive proof of guilt, it seems, is the sheer number of people accused. Miller's context was McCarthyism, but ours is Guantanamo Bay--and this production gives current witch hunts a harrowing contemporary resonance."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...Shapiro does a mighty job ensuring that the politics of The Crucible don’t come at the cost of the story—Miller’s agit-prop agenda is dramatic rather than didactic here, and that’s a major accomplishment. There’s no denying Miler’s brilliance, but there’s also no denying that, in lesser hands, The Crucible could—ironically enough—come across as a piece of powerful sermonizing first and storytelling second."
Chicago Free Press
- Recommended
"...Just as firmly Shapiro roots her heartfelt revival in the flesh-and-blood conflicts that tore up the town, led by tensile-strong portrayals by James Vincent Meredith as John Proctor, a hero for all eras, and Sally Murphy as his much-tested wife. Seemingly dwarfed beneath set designer Todd Rosenthal’s peaked meeting-house roof, the cast of 20 unflinchingly recreate the confusion and cruelty of this colonial civil war."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Impressively, Shapiro and her riveting cast understand that Miller expresses unforgiving analysis through fully, fiercely realized characters. This director eschews the brush for the scalpel, cutting straight to the play’s rapidly beating heart; the girls’ witch-naming scenes frighten and thrill."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Anna D. Shapiro’s direction allows for deeply felt emotions to explore the consequences of paralyzing fear from religious zealots. Todd Rosenthal’s austere wooden set with Don Holder’s lighting evoked the era aptly. This is another gem from Steppenwolf Theatre."
