Spoiler Alert: Another “John” for Richard Armitage?

News is out that Richard Armitage is in final talks to play John Proctor in a production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Old Vic. He will be perfect in this role. Spot on.

As many of you know,  The Crucible is about a witch hunt in 17th century Salem, Mass, hot bed of puritanism. But in truth, it’s a fable about the other witch hunt going on almost contemporaneously in the United Stated when Senator Joseph McCarthy led the House Un-American Activities Committee in a hunt to root out and expose Communists in government positions, which I hope to discuss in forthcoming posts.

Fine actors have played this role.  Arthur Kennedy played the first John Proctor in 1953. In the 1996 film Daniel Day Lewis was John Proctor and in 2002, Liam Neeson played the role. In s made for TV film, George C. Scott was the adulterous farmer.

The plot and character offer some familiar elements for Richard Armitage, besides the recurring oddity of his playing characters named John. John Proctor is a farmer. like John Standring. Despite one lapse in judgment,  he is an honorable, hard working man who loves his family, like John Porter. He has a dalliance with an underage girl, like Paul Andrews. And – well the end – you know what I’m talking about.

What a summer in store for Richard Armitage – and all of us. For this wonderful opportunity and for other reasons, I’ll overlook the fact that it’s not scheduled for New York. But hey- who knows? Maybe it’ll be brought to Broadway as so many other British productions have been.