A Heady Sex Education in JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN — Review

Nevermind that their sex ed and drama programs were cut, the juniors at a small-town Georgia high school find plenty of those to pore over in John Proctor Is the Villain, a savvy new play by Kimberly Belflower. Starring a note-perfect ensemble, it follows a core group of teen girls interpreting, and unwittingly reenacting, that old witch-hunt chestnut, The Crucible.

In 2018, four girls fawn over Mr. Smith (Gabriel Ebert), the handsome, approachable English teacher who’s just scored extra points by volunteering to sponsor their feminist club – or at least a version of it. Their counselor, Miss Gallagher (Molly Griggs), nixed their original proposal, essentially waving her arms at everything going on in the world and suggesting drawing attention to their cause might not be in the school’s best interest.

That’s alright with can-do do-gooder Beth (Fina Strazza) and her longtime friends, the recently single Raeylnn (Amalia Yoo) and the wealthy Ivy (Maggie Kuntz). While Beth might squirm at daydreaming about Mr. Smith’s “sweatpant dick” with Ivy, Nell (Morgan Scott), a new transplant from big city Atlanta, is glad to indulge. But the sixteen-year-old Raelynn is still mourning a double loss: that of Lee (Hagan Oliveras), her douchey ex-boyfriend of seven years, and Shelby (Sadie Sink), the ex-best friend who hooked up with him last semester.

Shelby skipped town for a few months after that, which naturally allowed for rumors to arise, and returns carrying her scarlet letter with wearied knowledge and combative pride. It doesn’t help that Ivy’s father, who Shelby had always found creepy, is accused of misconduct by his secretary just as she arrives back in the classroom. Unlike the girls, Shelby knows about sex now, though, as is often the case with these early educations, it’s hardly one she’d signed up for.

That Shelby’s aloofness masks some form of trauma will be apparent to most adult theatergoers, but will likely provide the kind of earth-shattering recognition for the younger audiences to whom Belflower seems to be writing. That’s not to say this isn’t a smartly taught sociological thriller. For all the girls’ giddy debates on the feminist merits of Taylor Swift and the Twilight saga – which, thankfully, don’t tip into overindulgence of soapboxing or reference-dropping – their travails ask compelling questions about humanism, in theory and in practice

When her home life and their in-class discussions of The Crucible’s sexual mores become too much for Ivy, she considers stepping away from their club. Shelby, by the way, seems never to have been invited. With the two most at-risk students estranged from the school’s safe space, the play intelligently mines the gap between fiercely envisioned social theory and the struggle to ensure its liberation can reach those who need it most, all without condescending to prescribe.

Belflower cleverly ties this into her plot as the semester progresses through scenes of classes, meetings and private conversations. Relationships change, truths are revealed and dynamics are upended, between the adults in charge and amid a blossoming romance between the semi-hardened Nell and the naive Mason (Nihar Duvvuri). It’s an eminently watchable yarn she and director Danya Taymor tease, and their characters are expertly realized by an excellent cast who, like the students, find ways to understand, yet subvert, their assignments within the compactness of a slick one-act. (A note in Belflower’s script stipulates, “the page count might be high, but this play moves very very quickly. if it’s over 1:45-50ish you’re going too slow,” leading me to stan.)

There’s a moment in the play featuring a song by Lorde that elicited in me a dizzy gasp, then an eye-roll, then gave way to a moment of catharsis. In one gesture, it brilliantly tied up the play’s themes, aesthetics and narratives in a genuinely thrilling way, while getting me to consider a long-beloved favorite in a new light. John Proctor Is the Villain is much like that: a heady rush of glee, shock and understanding that takes you by surprise, and leaves you happy you came.

John Proctor Is the Villain is in performance at the Booth Theatre on West 45th Street in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.