John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower

Elliot Norton Nomination for Outstanding Director. Elliot Norton Award Winner for Outstanding Production & Outstanding Ensemble.

Starring Japhet Balaban, Maanav Aryan Goyal, Olivia Herbert, Benjamin Izaak, Brianna Martinez, Victoria Omoregie, Jules Talbot, Isabel Van Natta and Haley Wong

Dramaturg: Lauren Halvorsen

Scenic Design by Kristen Robinson

Costume Design by Zoe Sundra

Wig and Hair Designer Rachel Padula-Shufelt

Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson

Original Music and Sound Design by Sinan Refik Zafar

Assistant Director: Carla Mirabel Rodriguez

Dialect and Vocal Coach: Christine Hamel

Fight and Intimacy Consultant: Jessica Scout Malone

Production Stage Manager: Emily F. McMullen

All photos taken by T Charles Erickson and Kligerman Productions for the Huntington Theatre 2024 production

PRESS:

“Now at the Huntington in a vibrant production directed by Margot Bordelon, with first-rate performances across the board by Bordelon’s nine-member cast, ‘John Proctor is the Villain’ is set in 2018 at a high school in rural Georgia, against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement.”

     -      Don Aucion, The Boston Globe

“‘John Proctor is the Villain’ Review: An All-Around Triumph”

“Directed by Margot Bordelon, The Huntington’s phenomenal production of ‘John Proctor is the Villain’… beautifully harmonizes contrasting tones to tell a complex story in a captivating show. Beyond doubt, ‘John Proctor is the Villain’ triumphs as an all-around success. Bordelon smoothly blends funny with poignant, fiery with gentle, and simple with complicated.

John Proctor is the Villain also thrives from Bordelon’s and the designers’ thorough attention to detail. For example, colorful lighting and loud music end each scene immediately after the last line, producing abrupt, intense transitions. These choices replicate the fast pace and cognitive whiplash of high school: Scenes conclude suddenly and emphatically, like the jarring ring of a school bell… Bordelon immerses the audience in adolescent life: Teenagers are forced to shift their minds quickly, and the audience must do the same.”

     -      Vivienne N. Germain, Harvard Crimson

“The Huntington’s Must-See ‘John Proctor Is A Villain’ Conjures Pure Theatrical Magic” 

“Director Margot Bordelon squeezes every drop of theatrical juice out of this fast-paced, fabulous, must-see play. Under its comic overtones lie deep issues such as female friendship, gender dynamics, speaking truth to power, and patriarchal autocracy. Kudos to Bordelon for aiming equal beams on the light and dark elements of the play’s messages.”

     -      Michael Hoban, Theater Mirror

“In ‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ (being given a you-don’t-want-to-miss-a-minute production by the Huntington), under the inspired direction of Margot Bordelon, playwright Kimberly Belflower turns the tables on no less than Arthur Miller to rebut the now questionable precepts found in his 1953 play ‘The Crucible’”

     -      R. Scott Reedy, Broadway World

“Seasoned director Margot Bordelon, who has a history of amplifying new voices, seems to have deep love for these characters, bringing out every delicate moment of discomfort and rage with authenticity.”

     -      The Unforgettable Line

“With keen direction from Margot Bordelon and the insightful writing of the playwright, the creative team crafts a tale that probes deeply into the politics of power and gender dynamics in a fresh way that hints at societal hypocrisy and shines a bright light on the ways we free one from guilt or frame another’s actions too quickly and how, what a hero or victim looks like is shaded and shaped by the viewers’ lens of personal experiences.”

     -      Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR

“How do you maintain the illusion of the adults playing kids and that the teacher/student power dynamic has actual consequences? The Huntington Theatre shows how with John Proctor is the Villain, tightly written by Kimberly Belflower and expertly directed by Margot Bordelon… The exhilarating ending brings out both the best in the cast and the audience. Join the standing ovation at this exuberant performance.

     -      Andy Hoffman, Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene

“Under the driving direction of Margot Bordelon, a strong Huntington cast empowers that provocative conclusion with #MeToo era immediacy.”

     -      Jules Becker, Bay Windows

‘John Proctor is the Villain’ takes on feminism, friendship The must-see Huntington production tackles ‘The Crucible’ in the modern era. 5 Stars!.. John Proctor is the Villain” is an incredible production with a powerful feminist message and an outstanding cast… Director Margot Bordelon makes full use of the stage’s space, giving each actor a moment to shine.”

     -      Nate Hall and Odessa Gaines, Tufts Daily

“Director Margot Bordelon, intimacy and fight director Jessica Scout Malone, dialect coach Christine Hamel, and the girl cast recreate what it is to be a teenage girl caught between the madonna-whore dichotomy. Olivia Hebert as Ms. Gallagher captures what it is to be a woman trying to change an unchangeable world. 

Margot Bordelon and her cast perform Belflower’s exceptional work with the light-hearted joy and raw severity it deserves. The girl/women ensemble pays homage to the women who have told our stories for centuries while balancing it with the proper disrespect owed to the patriarchs holding our heads underwater to see the bubbles float up. Yes, bring your daughters, your non-binary and femme trans children, your mother, and your female friends. They will find great value in it. AND, bring your sons. Boy, male, non-binary, gender fluid masculine folx without an immediate female or feminine perspective should learn from this show, too. Make them discuss its themes. If Belflower, Bordelon, the cast and crew are to be believed, and I do believe them, your males need this play as much as we do.”

     -      Kitty Drexel, New England Theatre Geek

“…Thanks to an incredibly dynamic cast under the direction of Margot Bordelon, the results are simultaneously inciteful and engaging.”

     -      Kevin T. Baldwin, METRMAG

“Director Margot Bordelon squeezes every drop of theatricality out of this fast-paced play, and her cast wear their roles as if they were custom-made.”

     -      Shelley A. Sackett, Jewish Journal

“Belflower’s seriously funny script and Margot Bordelon’s direction on a lean set, fast forwards us through the action which includes transitional music and movement between scenes… MUST SEE!”

     -      Joyce Kulhawik, Joyce’s Choices

“With meticulous direction by Margot Bordelon, The Huntington presents Kimberly Belflower’s dark comedy John Proctor is the Villain.”

     -      The Sleepless Critic