John Proctor is the Villain

John Proctor is the Villain runs at the Booth Playhouse from Friday, November 20, through Sunday, November 22. It's a production by the UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre, playing at the Blumenthal Arts Center's 434-seat space at 130 North Tryon Street.

Written by Kimberly Belflower and directed by Roxanne Wellington, the play is a funny and bracing look at girlhood, the destruction of innocence, and the narratives we've been taught to believe. It follows five young women in an English class that's digging into Arthur Miller's The Crucible, until the parallels between the play and their own lives in a small Georgia town come into sharp and dangerous focus. If you've read The Crucible in school, you'll recognize the source material, but this is a new story built around it.

Before this run, the show premiered on Broadway in 2025, where it earned seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. This particular production is a guest engagement by UNC Charlotte's Department of Theatre rather than a Blumenthal Arts presentation, so it's a student-led company bringing a Broadway-nominated script to the city.

There are a few things to keep in mind before you book. The play contains talk about sex and deals with issues of grooming and abuse, and the production includes flashing lights and strobe. It's the kind of thing that's worth knowing ahead of time.

As for the schedule, there are three performances: Friday, November 20, and Saturday, November 21, both at 7:30 PM, and a Sunday matinee on November 22 at 2:00 PM. Tickets start at $15.76, and groups of 10 or more get 10% off.