Local Happenings

“John Proctor Is The Villain” Play Review

By Logan Anderson (landerson14@css.edu)

March 28, 2025

The CSS Theatre Club has made a strong comeback this Spring with their performance of “John Proctor Is The Villain” written by Kimberley Belflower, and directed by Matthew Singletary. This story about a high school literature class applying their reading of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” to their own lives was passionately portrayed by CSS students.

The play runs for approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes and was certainly worth the time. I was captivated from the very beginning. The play begins with a group of students coming together to form a feminism club during the #MeToo movement. Simultaneously, their literature class is studying “The Crucible” and their town is being shaken by a sexual harassment scandal. As the students navigate what is happening in their community, they learn the importance of standing together against injustice.

“John Proctor Is The Villain” is set in a small Georgia town in 2018, and takes place entirely within the confines of a single classroom. The singular set did not feel limited in the slightest—instead, it felt like an accurate representation of the way education shapes the lives and values of young people, and how this can be used in both empowering and degrading ways. 

The circular manner in which the theater was arranged, with the stage in the middle and the audience watching from the sides, provided an immersive viewing experience that made me forget my role as an audience member and made me feel like I was actually part of the class. 

This portrayal of a classroom full of teenagers was incredibly accurate. While the playwriting itself was genius, it was the performance by the actors that really drove this play home. The cast expertly executed each moment of teenage awkwardness, angsty tension, raw emotion, and playful humor that I’m sure everyone can remember from being a 16-year-old.

One of my favorite parts of this show was the representation of female friendship. The girls in this play were silly and laughed together, they argued and cried with each other, but most importantly they ultimately came together when one of them needed support. They made their ideas known and expressed their intelligence and beliefs without hesitation, even when the powers that be tried to silence them.

This play is the perfect mix of drama and comedy. It explores timely themes of victim blaming, female strength, and the power of  dancing in the face of adversity (literally), while also being appropriately peppered with moments of humor. The CSS Theatre Club pulled off their performance of “John Proctor Is The Villain” with liveliness and creativity. The upcoming shows are Friday, Mar. 28 and Saturday Mar. 29th at 7:30 p.m.