⚖️ The Rat Trial Begins…
Welcome back to The Stage Rat—your theatre-obsessed rodent scuttling through the cracks of New York’s stages, where some days can feel just like we’re back in Salem dodging real witches and John Proctors.
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This week, I stumbled into John Proctor is the Villain on Broadway— a meta-meditation on The Crucible set in a high school in Georgia. The text crackles with Gen Z wit, heartbreak, literary analysis, humour, and real bite.
Sadie Sink pulls in a younger crowd, and you can feel that electric buzz in the theatre. With razor-sharp writing and raw performances, this one’s absolutely worth catching.
There’s a new witch hunt in town. And this time, the Rat’s on the jury 🧀
THE RAT’S RECOMMENDATION:
“JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN”
Cheese Score: 🧀🧀🧀🧀 (4/5)
Description:
Five young women running on pop music, optimism, and fury, are about to shed light on some of the darkest secrets in their one stoplight town.
Why You Should Care:
Intelligent Writing- At first, it feels like a classic "play within a play" setup—students analyzing The Crucible. But it morphs into a meta-examination of gender, power, shame, and the stories we inherit. Belflower’s writing glows with naughtiness, wisdom, and theatrical magic.
Strong Characters - These teens aren’t types—they’re textured and lovable. With incredible performances from the cast, the interplay between these high schoolers is fun, sad, heartwarming and shocking all at once.
The Crucible Reflected - The brilliance here is the fuzziness of the line between the old text and the students’ real lives. The line between fact and fiction is blurred and its reflective of exactly the play they are studying. It’s almost as if the text has come alive and the Witch trials have begun again.
That Ending Though - Out of nowhere, a surreal, musical, elevated finale that feels both absurd and earned. A defiant scream of power and a reclaiming of the narrative.
Where – Booth Theatre
How Long – 1 hour, 45 mins
Who to Bring – Your college roommate who quoted The Crucible to justify cheating. The man in your life who says “witch hunt” every time he’s held accountable. Your ex-English teacher who crushed on Proctor and called it “literary analysis.” Anyone who ever started a sentence with “Well actually, in the original text…” and needs to be publicly humbled.
Have you seen it? What's your rating?
Overall Cheese rating: 4/5
Until next week, keep it dramatic, keep it ratty, and always aim for center stage! 🐀✨.
P.S. Thanks for being part of this weird rat family. Please reply to this email and let us rats know how we are doing?
With lots of Ratitude,
The Stage Rat