The Crucible

By: Arthur Miller

Narrated by: Stacy Keach, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr., Hector Elizondo, full cast

Length: 1 hr and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In a searing portrait of a community engulfed by panic—with ruthless prosecutors, and neighbors eager to testify against neighbor—The Crucible famously mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria that held the United States in its grip in the 1950’s. A Tony Award Winner for Best Play. A BBC and KCRW co-production.

Recorded at Culver Studios, Culver City in March 1988.

Directed by Martin Jenkins.

Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance starring:

Irene Aranga as Mercy Lewis

René Auberjonois as Deputy Governor Danforth

Ed Begley Jr. as Thomas Putnam

Georgia Brown as Rebecca Nurse

Jack Coleman as Marshal Herrick

Bud Cort as Ezekiel Cheever

Richard Dreyfuss as Reverend John Hale

Héctor Elizondo as Giles Corey

Judyann Elder as Tituba

Fionnula Flanagan as Elizabeth Proctor

Ann Hearne as Susanna Walcott

Carol Kane as Mary Warren

Stacey Keach as John Proctor

Anna Sophie Loewenberg as Betty Parris

Marian Mercer as Mrs. Ann Putnam

Franklyn Seales as Judge Hathorne

Madolyn Smith as Abigail Williams

Joe Spano as Francis Nurse

Michael York as Reverend Parris

(P)1994 L.A. Theatre Works

Food for Thought

As you listen it makes you wonder if we are headed down this path again.

crucible made easy

I've listened to it twice and loved it. a great performance with lots of emotion and subtle sound effects.

Incredible!

The acting was SUPERB! I couldn’t stop listening! Perhaps one of the best on Audible...I’m now ready for another Arthur Miller classic.

You must read the book with it or you will miss key parts.

They should have stuck strictly to the script. I had to pause the audio numerous times and read parts that were left out. The acting is good and hearing it really does help, but for a student with an IEP it could be hard for them to follow without the book and someone helping them. I hate to complain given that the book is well acted out and it certainly is better to hear it verses simply reading it alone. If this is being used for an English class, then make sure you have the book in front of you. Pause where needed to understand what’s left out. Overall I am pleased that Audible had it available despite the discrepancies.

Engaging and powerful

No need to talk about the play, Miller is still amazing. The casting and the recording of this production was amazing. Engaging, scary, powerful and entertaining. It was a pleasure to listen to the play

Bravo to cast!

This was a story that my children were required to read as a junior in high school. not one that i would actually be drawn to for a reading, or them. I wanted to read what they were reading and thought to find an audible version that followed their text in the book they read. I wanted something that would bring this story to life for them to have a better understanding of the story. When I saw the Richard Dreyfus was performing as Hale, I was drawn to this version right away.
Listening to this story allowed us to feel as if we were watching this in love action. Hearing the characters portrayed by various actors truly delivers this book and the story it’s telling.

easy study

My daughter found it far easier to listen to the audiobook of The Crucible than to read it from the paper copy. The dramatisation of the play was great, and it really came alive. A great study helper!

sex scandal

I wish there were a longer form with an ensemble cast. This does not have close to all of the details.

Some people are caught dancing in the woods? A wedding dance?

When the circumstances of the case which focused on John W Proctor's adultery with Abby Miller, someone asked, how'd he do it? This relationship did not come to light until she was 18. The implication with her request to sweat behind his home is that this relationship had been going on for years.

Daniel Webster, the defense attorney, asks John Proctor about a member of the congregation that he didn't baptize, fleetingly.

This is the date that I'd say America went wrong. The one member of the congregation led to narcolyptic sextitism in the community.

Someone apparently tried to marry the boy. It failed.

For some years apparently Abigail Williams was porking John W Proctor.

Then they let the details come to light when she turned 18.

Circumstances from the movie like a cauldron with a dead frog are not in this brief version.

It’s a good story

Terrible audio quality. There were parts that I truly could not hear with my audio on max. I’m sure the acting was great but it’s hard to tell when you can’t make out what they are saying.

Timeless

As long as there are moral entrepreneurs this story will always have something to say.

Many lessons to be learned here.