'A shatteringly powerful production that never relaxes its grip for a moment…the performances are tremendous…Iain Glen makes a marvellously racked and anguished John Proctor…Helen Schlesinger is equally fine as the troubled wife…there are outstanding performances from Ian Gelder as the craven Rev Parris, James Laurenson as the icily authoritarian Danforth…and Robert Bowman as the witch-hunter who painfully learns the error of his ways…knockout revival of a modern classic'
Daily Telegraph
'Dominic Cooke's superb production not only brings out the play's political urgency but liberates it from historical naturalism…Iain Glen's monumental John Proctor is a figure of Lawrentian power and sensuality…equally Elaine Cassidy's Abigail is not the usual diabolical nymphet, but a young girl whose sexual stirrings find no outlet in this community'
Guardian
'This is one of the greatest plays by the greatest dramatist of the 20th century, and Dominic Cooke's production rises to it with a sense of harrowing intensity…Iain Glen gives the most commanding performance of his career…his John Proctor is a rock with a fissure deep inside him…Glen brings out the pain of having to go through the fire to find yourself'
Sunday Times
'The RSC's excellent new revival…wonderfully portrayed by a cast who have strength in depth…with stage presence to burn, Iain Glen is superlative at each stage of Proctor's anguished journey…Helen Schlesinger lend a quiet, compelling dignity to Elizabeth…Clifford Rose as Francis Nurse and Trevor Peacock as Giles Corey bring a humane Shakespearean life into proceedings'
Independent
