Georgia playwright makes Broadway debut with 'John Proctor is the Villain'

"I reread ‘The Crucible’ very much with the lens of #MeToo very fresh and affixed to my eyes, and I was like, ‘It’s so crazy rereading this, because it feels like John Proctor is the villain!’ And I heard myself say that…"

And with that sudden flash of inspiration, a White County, Georgia native began a journey leading straight to The Great White Way.

Emory University assistant professor Kimberly Belflower’s "John Proctor is the Villain" officially opens at the Booth Theatre on Broadway tonight, starring "Stranger Things" standout Sadie Sink as a rural Georgia high schooler whose English class is reading the Arthur Miller classic.

"‘The Crucible’ is kind of this device that is used throughout the play, as this English class is reading it and working on it," says Belflower of the play. "And then certain parallels come up."

The White County High School graduate and current assistant professor of dramatic writing in Emory’s theater studies and creative writing programs began writing the play on commission back in 2018; after several acclaimed productions, the move to the Booth Theatre began in earnest with its above-the-title star.

"Sadie Sink read the play and loved it," recalls Belflower. "And [she] is the smartest, coolest, most wonderful actor, and wanted to do a new play and wanted to do an ensemble piece. And that is so crazy for a 22-year-old star."

After several weeks of previews at the Booth Theatre, Belflower says she’s feeling fairly calm heading into the play’s official opening night. Still, the playwright says the idea of her work being performed on Broadway is so breathtakingly enormous that — until now — it never even seemed possible.

"I mean, when I was a teenager daydreaming, of course [I thought about Broadway] … but in any realistic sense, no. It seemed like, no, that would be crazy!""

"John Proctor is the Villain" is directed by the Tony Award-winning Danya Taymor — for more information on the play, click here.