Yorkshire students studying The Crucible for their GCSE drama syllabus this year have an ideal opportunity to see the production first hand.

Grassington Players will be staging the Arthur Miller classic at the Town Hall in Grassington from Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25th April.

Described as "One of a handful of plays that will both survive the twentieth century and bear witness to it", the dramatic tale never fails to enthrall.

The Crucible is based upon the real life events that befell a small Puritan community in New England, USA in 1692-1693. Salem becomes swept up by a wave of mass hysteria led by a group of teenagers. Fueled by superstition, paranoia and malice, accusations of witchcraft run riot with terrifying consequences.

Arthur Miller's portrayal of the tragic events in Salem is a chilling parable for the McCarthyism that gripped America in the 1950's, at the time of his writing. Miller himself had been brought before the senate's House Un-American Activities Committee and convicted of "contempt of Congress". He saw the blacklisting of communists as a parallel of the frenzied Salem witch-hunt.

Grassington Players production of the play fulfills the long ambition of Director, Ed Williams to stage it. The twenty strong cast of all ages are pulled from around Wharfedale. The play gives newcomers to the company a chance to shine in leading roles as the teenagers at the centre of the evil which culminates in the imprisonment and death of many innocent men and women.

Many stalwarts of Grassington Players help carry this production to its gripping conclusion, with Les Kerkham playing the tormented lead, John Proctor.

Tickets for the play are available from Helen Midgley on 01756 752579.