The Yard to stage first work by non-living playwright with female-led Arthur Miller’s Crucible

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is set for a gender reboot at The Yard Theatre next year, with the character of John Proctor to be played by a woman.

Miller’s classic study of hysteria and censorship will open at the Hackney Wick venue in 2019, in the theatre’s first production of a work by a non-living writer.

Jay Miller, the Yard’s artistic director, will direct the production alongside the creative team behind This Beautiful Future , one of the theatre’s most successful shows.

He said that the play would be staged at The Yard as “we need to look back in order to move forward.”

“The Crucible speaks of a world torn apart, a community that, driven by fear, becomes isolated individuals, scared, and desperate to protect themselves. This speaks powerfully to today,” he said.

The play was written in 1953 in response to the McCarthy trials, in which a number of American writers and thinkers were accused of communism by the government. Arthur Miller himself was called before the Committee of Un-American Activities in 1956 and later found guilty of contempt of Congress, but the charge was overturned in 1958.

The production is the latest in a number of planned Miller revivals in 2019. The Old Vic will revive All My Sons, with Sally Field and Bill Pullman among the cast , and Rachel Chavkin will direct his 1980 play The American Clock. Elsewhere, Marianne Elliott will direct Wendell Pierce and Sharon D Clarke in Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic , and David Suchet stars in a West End revival of The Price .

The Yard, founded by Jay Miller in 2011, is located in a repurposed warehouse in Hackney Wick. Last year it won the Empty Space Peter Brook Award, which recognises innovation in small theatres.

The Crucible will run from March 27 - May 11, with tickets going on sale today at 1pm: theyardtheatre.co.uk