Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. A community stands accused of witchcraft, and in the mood of fear and recrimination that quickly develops men denounce their neighbours, truth is perverted by superstition, and an innocent word or deed can be distorted into damning evidence of guilt.

The voice of reason is drowned by the rising tide of hysteria as events acquire their own momentum and run out of control.

Drawing its inspiration from the McCarthy hearings in the United States in the 1950s, 'The Crucible' uses seventeenth-century history to explore the consequences for society when men allow the dark forces of unreason to be unleashed.

This recording offers a powerful performance of a haunting and provocative masterpiece of postwar drama.

Stuart Pankin, Jerome Dempsey and Cast