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[0:00] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff & Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performances, storylines, and everything in between. In today's episode, we are discussing the Broadway production of John Proctor is the Villain playing at the Booth Theatre in New York City. Whether you cannot catch the show in person or you want to expand your thoughts after seeing it, this episode is free. And as always, we want to inform you that this episode will contain spoilers. So if you're ready to dive into this production, stick around with us. I'm Jeff.

[0:28] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie. And we're thrilled to be your hosts for today's episode. But before we start the conversation about John Proctor is the Villain, here are a few words from our advertisers. Welcome, everyone, to a new episode of Half Hour with Jeff & Richie. Today, we're discussing John Proctor is the Villain.

[0:42] Jeff Malone: Sadie Sink stars in this bitingly funny new play from Kimberly Belflower that flips the script on the American classic and who gets to be the heroes in the stories that we tell. At a high school in a one-stoplight town in Georgia, an English class is studying The Crucible. The students, however, are more preoccupied with navigating young love, sex ed, and a few school scandals than what's in their syllabus. But as they delve into this literary classic, the class begins to question the play's perspective, especially whether John Proctor is the hero they've been taught that he is. Directed by Tony Award winner Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain is a new comedy from a major new American voice capturing a generation in mid-transformation, running on pop music, optimism, and fury, and discovering that their future is not bound by their past.

[1:31] Richie Grasso: All right, Broadway hot take for John Proctor is the Villain. When I left this show, I said to you, I have a big feeling that this show is going to win the Tony this year. I was completely blown away by this production, and I feel like this whole cast should be beyond proud with how cohesive they are working together.

[1:43] Jeff Malone: It's so true. I didn't know what to expect going into this. I was blown away by every single aspect of this piece, from the writing to the acting, to the direction, to the design. I was floored. I was on board the whole time, and yes, I cried at the end. I did not think I was going to, but I really couldn't hold back. Brilliant storytelling. I can't wait.

[2:10] Richie Grasso: Yes, let's dive in. Bold cry. Okay. All right, so when we get into the plot of this play, where do we even want to begin?

[2:17] Jeff Malone: Well, it's funny because I think one of the ads was saying, you don't need to have read The Crucible before seeing this play, and then it was like, but you could, but you don't. And I think that what's so important is, the chances of you reading The Crucible at some point in your high school career is high. Reading it, performing in it, I was in it.

[2:40] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I was in it too. We did it in high school, and we read it, and it was important. It's funny because it was important for different reasons at the time, and even maybe still today. We look at, it was a reflection of McCarthyism. Arthur Miller writes this in reflection of that, and then compares it to the Salem Witch Trials hundreds of years prior. So that is very important. It's classic American theater. It's done all the time. It's one of the highest performed pieces, right? So of course, I think it makes sense for Kimberly, the playwright of this play, to take something that most of us know already. Listen, I think you could go into this not 100% knowing it, because I haven't read it in a long time. But in the play, they refresh your memory. The teacher in the play is like, and this happens, and then this happens. And we get the general gist of it, which was smart for Kimberly to throw that in there for us.

[3:21] Jeff Malone: Also, if you're very familiar with the play, and you're thinking, wait, maybe John Proctor is the villain, I think that it also really helps for you to kind of dive in and take it from that experience. And then put it into a high school classroom, which is where the majority of us have experienced this play, was also very important.

[3:40] Richie Grasso: I agree. I mean, putting it in the classroom, in this kind of rural town in Georgia, that they say, what, it's a one-stop-

[3:47] Jeff Malone: One-stop-light town.

[3:51] Richie Grasso: One-stop-light town. Like, so many of us in this country are familiar with that, and so many of us are not. So when we take this play that so many of us are familiar, it's The Crucible, and we now have this Gen Z interpretation of it. It was really great to kind of watch on how she's pulling from the different movements that we're having go on in the country today. And, well, this was more like 2018 when she wrote the play, but she was inspired by it. She looked at it. She evaluated the characters, and she created a new play that mimicked and matched what's going on today.

[4:29] Jeff Malone: But I think there was such potential for this to steer in different directions. One potential could have been, let's just put kids in a classroom and talk about The Crucible. That could have been compelling in and of its own way, but that came in and out of the other things that these characters were dealing with. Another thing could have been, like, Sadie Sink stars as this fiery, angsty teen who just leads the play, and everyone else kind of sits in the background. Also didn't happen. Like, there was so much potential. This also could have been, like, angsty teenagers dealing with their hormones, trying to understand a play. Also didn't happen. Like, but there were elements of those scenarios that I just explained that were all intertwined, which made it work. It wasn't just one of those.

[5:15] Richie Grasso: I think when this was announced, so many people had the, oh no, what is this going to be? Some woke play on Broadway that's, you know, Gen Z-ified and, like, no one's going to care about it. Like, I think that's what everyone really thought about this play when it was announced. And instead, when you get there and, like, listen, we're listening to pop music from, like, anywhere from Lorde to Taylor Swift to Beyoncé, and it's great. The pre-show music, it sets you up in that way. This is a time where, actually, I think the pre-show music really works when you're listening to the lyrics that all of these women are singing in these songs. But prior to that, like, you're sitting in this theater now and you're watching this show go on. And I think what Kimberly did really well was she was smart and she took the actual text from The Crucible and she knew how to weave it in and create a story. Because there were so many moments in this play that I was not expecting.

[6:11] Jeff Malone: Well, especially since what's happening in the town and in the play mimics what is happening in The Crucible. So that you have accusation. You have male versus female. You have elders of the town and young of the town. You have different races experienced in Crucible and in this, too. With Tituba and that whole moment where they were talking about Tituba, right? And then in this piece, there's also the elders of this piece are, like, millennials. And so they're not even, like, boomers. We don't even have reference to, like, elder boomers in the town. It's really just, like, and there's so many subtle hints throughout this piece that lead you to believe, oh, wait, the male teacher is the John Proctor here.

Oh, he is the villain here. You may not realize that in the beginning because what's happening in the beginning. Although I will say, how does this play start? With sex ed. And I thought for a second, wait, are we in an English classroom? Why is the English teacher talking about sex with a kid? And then when you look back, you're like, oh, that's interesting, right? Like, he was, maybe that was his job in this town to teach sex ed in the English classroom.

[7:10] Richie Grasso: He's just an English teacher, but they're short staffed, so he had to teach the sex ed class.

[7:13] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and what's the irony about that? When you find out, that's what's so smart about Kimberly's writing is it's so ironic when he's like, oh, I know young people's music. Like, I'm not that old. And you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. When you learn later that he's accused of all these things. It's just like, oh my gosh. And then when the guidance counselor is like, oh, I knew you and your sisters and brothers and sisters, we all grew up. And I had friends, you know, she was trying to poke the sleeping bear a little bit there. And then later when she has her moment, there's all these subtle scattered glimpses of, you know, Ivy's dad takes the spotlight for a little bit. And we're realizing what that's doing to Ivy and these characters. And then the male teacher is kind of out of the limelight for a bit until Sadie's character accuses him. There's the mystery of Sadie's character. Where did she go? Why did she disappear?

[7:59] Richie Grasso: Shelby, Shelby, I should say.

[8:01] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And also what's also brilliant about this plot is everyone has a full story.

[8:06] Richie Grasso: Yeah. Even the boys in the show. But those girls in that group, they all have such incredible character development that what made me cry at the end was looking at all of them, watch this piece perform and say, oh my gosh, I just got her whole story. I got his story. I got her story. And I'm like feeling for them all because it was so, it could have been so easy for Kimberly to write this piece and just say, okay, we're just going to really focus on this character. But for a one hour and 45 minute play to feel like I got to know these people so well, just made me feel so good about playwriting and about storytelling and what Danya did with it too, which we're going to get to in a second, but it just felt good.

[8:54] Jeff Malone: But I also feel like with Kimberly, she was able to create this realistic approach to the students in the classroom. So it wasn't like a la-di-da-da play where like, oh, every kid is interested in the play. We had to watch the development of like, oh no, like, you know, the boys had no interest in doing this. And then some of the girls were kind of interested in The Crucible, but they also were interested in like, what else are we going to be doing this year? And they slowly get invested into the actual text of The Crucible. And it just made it even more impactful when you start realizing all of the things that are happening.

[9:30] Richie Grasso: Well, and that's why we could go into more characters. Beth, to me, stands out as a really strong supporting character here because Beth in the beginning is, oh, she's the girl with anxiety who wants to follow the rules and start the club. And normally that character would be like a throwaway character, just like a comedic relief character. Yet she was so encompassed in the plot. Didn't you feel like it was so important that, oh my gosh, she was having a texting relationship with this teacher? What did that mean? Where was that going to go or not going to go? And that's going to be a big question we're going to talk about at the end of this episode. Because that character was huge. The girl who had just moved there, Ivy, her whole character, Sadie's, I keep saying Sadie, Shelby's friend and their relationship and the gas station laugh that they have, which was like a moment, that laugh and to cry was just like such theater.

[10:26] Jeff Malone: It was just all these relationships and developments all in this one classroom. It was pretty incredible. And there's so much more to be said too. And I think we'll actually get into the development of this in the next portion of this when we talk about the production, but how she did still include groupthink in this and also weaponizing accusation, which is a major point in The Crucible and how it becomes a major point. It becomes life and death. And here it becomes pretty full throttle too. Like, oh my gosh, these people's careers, their livelihoods, their parents, their relationships with each other, their own maturity growing up in high school. Incredible. Just an incredible comparison.

[11:06] Jeff Malone: Okay, so we're back now, and we're going to start talking more in detail about the production, the direction, the character performances, and overall design. So let's kick things off with Danya's direction in this play, because we have Miss Tony Award-winning Danya Taymor from The Outsiders last year, and now we have her directing a play, which we also saw her direct a play previously at Roundabout with Gabby B. Jonas. And now we have her again directing John Proctor as the villain.

[11:45] Richie Grasso: Okay, so let's get into Danya Taymor, because I don't think she's a one-trick pony. No, she's clearly accomplished and knows what she's doing. She knows how to move actors in a space. She knows how to tell story with lighting, and with a lighting designer and sound designer. And she knows how to give ownership of role. It would have been so easy to just sit them in the desks and kind of just play it out, but there were these moments where the character would stand up, and the lights would change, and they would flutter, and there was the, like... But that kind of alluded to, like, the spookiness of Crucible, and the witches, and the scary... Not that that's obviously what was happening here.

They weren't obviously witches, but these characters were reflecting, and as the lights were flickering behind them in the classroom, it was like the, oh my gosh, I'm going through something right now. Let me just hone in on this feeling, and let's get to know that character for an extra 30 seconds before we move on to the next scene.

[12:42] Jeff Malone: Her transitions were pretty incredible, too. Ways people moved in and out of that space. We're talking about one set show. A one-unit set here. They go in one door, out another door. I mean, it's directed really well, I think, at least. There's something that she's doing with her actors on stage, because she did it in The Outsiders as well, but she is having them act throughout the piece. And you can go back and watch this show, and pick a different character to focus on each time, and you're going to get a completely different performance. Because if you look at someone like Shelby, and you watch her, I mean, listen, Shelby doesn't even come into the, that's Sadie saying, because she doesn't even come into the show for about like, 30-ish minutes in.

Maybe 40, even? And you know, that's a big deal for her when she comes in, but it's a moment, you know, when she's like, oh, what does she say from American Horror Story? Oh yeah, she has that line, I know. Or is it, what was the other one? Anyway, like, you missed me or something. But anyway, that's a moment in pop culture, which, you know, that's another thing that Kimberly did really well, was she brought all of these pop culture references into this.

[14:04] Richie Grasso: Yes, which was really smart. It was really smart. And to think that she was able to work so well with her designers was really impressive, too. I thought the costuming was very modern. 2018 is when we're set. But also the set, that classroom was so incredibly well designed. The pipework, did you see the pipework in the ceiling? Like, the way that these old classrooms of public school classrooms would have been designed and utilized. And not even that old, because it's 2018. Yeah, but I'm saying the building looked old, and the classroom felt like they were in an old building of Georgia. And it just was impressive. And then the way it was lit on top of it, the blackouts, the way things were lit, the fluttering of the lights.

When we were flashed with light on that big aha moment, when she accused the teacher, boom, blackout, we're like shocked. I mean, when you have Natasha Katz, lighting designer, I mean, come on. The sound design. The scenic designs by AMP featuring Teresa L. Williams. So I don't know if that's a group. Maybe. I didn't do the research on that. But maybe that's a little bit more like how dots is like a collaborative. But, you know, I think that the set and scenic design here is symbolic in so many ways of what the Crucible also holds in being this kind of like hollow space. Or also like a courtroom of feel, because that's kind of what Crucible is set in that one room of accusation. So to kind of set it, the parallels to Crucible here are uncanny, right? Like it totally made sense.

[15:24] Jeff Malone: And then the sound design, you're mixing pop music in here, pop music references. When they referenced the Green Light song, it made sense that we were going to get that at the end. And I was like, I wonder if they'll just play Green Light like at the bows. No, no. It was like totally the whole last 10 minutes of the piece. But it made complete sense. And those lyrics and to take a pop song and highlight that and the lyrics of it and say that's going to be the focus of the end of this. And we'll talk about the end later. But I think it's just it was collaboration at its finest mixed with incredible actor performances. And I want to talk about some of these actor performances, because Sadie does stand out to me. Very strong.

[16:02] Richie Grasso: Before we get into each one, though, I'm going to say the whole cast was a complete standout to me, though. And yes, moving into Sadie, I think, you know, she did have to deliver layers here for her character. She comes in very late in the show. It's a moment for her. But we have to slowly peel back those layers from her to actually get to her root. You know, she's tough on the outside. And we don't quite know her yet. She comes in late. So it takes us a little longer to get to know. And we have a preconceived idea of her based on what everyone is saying about her. So when she comes on this set, you are like, I don't really like her. She, you know, was against her. She did something bad to her friend. She slept with her boyfriend. OK, well, really good playwriting to me is introducing a character without literally introducing the character.

[17:00] Jeff Malone: Yeah, we saw that in Purpose, right? The sister upstairs, the sister upstairs. There's the sister. It's kind of like, I mean, go to Sunset Boulevard. You don't meet Norma Desmond for the first, like, 20 to 30 minutes. Who, Norma? She comes in. So the way people talk about someone in a piece before they enter, it's incredible playwriting. Right. And you're designing this whole idea and image of what this person is going to be like when they actually come on the set. Right. Other standouts to me, I thought Morgan Scott was really, really wonderful. And I thought Amalia Yo was really wonderful. And I will say a real standout to me in just character development. But acting was Fina Estraza as Beth. She was just incredible to me with her mannerisms and the way she related with the characters. And she had to be her own and find her own footing in this very intricate character. I was really impressed with everybody. But those were the standouts.

[18:01] Richie Grasso: I agree. I actually wrote down all five of the girls in this show because I think that Sadie, again, we just talked about her, but Maggie Koontz, I think she stands out with her emotional range that she has to go from being this kind of like thirsty girl looking for this, loves the teacher, but then like has this whole moment, like her dad literally is sleeping with the secretary. And like that starts this whole issue within this classroom. And then, yeah, Morgan, I think she adds this whole like level of-

[18:28] Jeff Malone: Like new to the school, learning things, but also-

[18:31] Richie Grasso: But like is confident, but she has a moment where she talks about how she comes from a place where she wasn't confident. She thinks, everyone thinks she's the most confident, everyone thinks she's the cool girl because she comes from Atlanta and now like she's here and it's more like big fish, small pond. But when she was in the big lake, she was an owl.

[19:00] Jeff Malone: Right.

[19:01] Richie Grasso: And like she has so much that she adds in here because she kind of also pulls things out from this whole town that's been like the same way forever.

[19:06] Jeff Malone: Right, right.

[19:07] Richie Grasso: I do think like Fina, she is sharp. She has an idea of who she wants to be. She wants to escape. And like she has so much trust in all of the people around her. And I think that's a major key to this.

[19:18] Jeff Malone: Well, that's especially when we get to the end and when she's there and we'll talk about the end in a second, but this reference to green light, the song, the green light in The Great Gatsby, I was impressed with that because we understand that that's a big part of that book. And now also on Broadway, a play and a musical, what does the green light mean? And when they say the green light means go, but does it or does it mean that green light, I want it? What does that mean for them? What is the want? They're waiting for the green light. And what is that? So to take an old story, old books, a green light idea with a modern pop song, it's very smart.

[20:04] Richie Grasso: And then I also think it kind of all boils down to this whole perfect, like the guidance counselor is going to run the classroom. They're still going to do their final presentation. So everyone gets equal grades, but the teacher still has to come in and grade them. But he's not going to say anything, but everybody's going to watch, but put your costumes on and do your crucible scene. And you have five minutes go. And I'm like, oh, it builds to that. And it makes complete sense that that's what we're going to get. And I'll say more about the ending because we're going to get into that in the next second. We're going to spend the last second talking about that, but maybe we'll go there now. Should we go over there now?

[20:33] Jeff Malone: All right. Let's take a quick break.

[20:35] Richie Grasso: All right. And we'll be right back. Okay. So this ending, right? I think what's also impressive is there's this, like the heart started coming into my throat a little bit, like, okay, they're going to do the song. They're going to do the interpretive dance, but who are the assignment was two characters in the play that never interact with each other to make Abigail and Elizabeth be those two people. If you know, the play makes complete sense and to do it in front of the quote unquote, John Proctor of the scene, like everything's spelled out perfectly here. And then to have them all watch it. And as the song's going and the song's going in there and others are joining and he's saying, okay, your five minutes are up and they're defying it.

And they're defying it. And the song is just building. And like, my heart is in my throat and I'm like crying. I'm like, oh my gosh, these people, I feel for everyone. There's transformation happening here. There's power. There's strength. There's, there's fear. There's a little bit of everything, which is what's going on in the crystal ball too, but it's also happening here. And at the very, very, very end, when Beth stands up and I'm like, oh my gosh, she's walking towards them. She's going to join them. That green light. I want it black. Oh, I was like, oh my gosh, what did I just watch for five minutes? Like it was so intense for me. I was so moved.

[21:50] Jeff Malone: Well, I feel like there's the ending is like, I want to go back and see this. Yeah. Like I need to go back. The ending there's so much coming from this because yes, we have Abigail and Elizabeth as the two characters they choose to meet. They have like a little dialogue before that's super like modern worded as well. That would not happen in that way, but I liked it.

[22:43] Jeff Malone: We're watching this dance happen, and you start watching each character on that stage be like, do I believe them? Do I not believe them? Whose side am I on? And immediately you get one of the girls joining them in the circle. She's ride or die. Like there we go. I'm with you. I believe you. No man is going to rule this thing. The boys, one of them like jumps up and you can tell he's like on the side. And we get to Beth and she's, you could watch her that whole song. Most of the song I did watch her. And I'm like, okay, she's sitting at the desk. She doesn't know what to do. She has this, some sort of relationship with the teacher. And you're like, I don't know what it is. Is she doing the same thing?

Is he doing the same thing to Beth that he's doing to Shelby? Who knows? But they have this weird texting relationship and it's alluded to by the other girls. Like, why do you text him? That's weird. Okay. And when she just claims it's just because I want book references and we talk about literature and who knows? And, and we don't, and, and you want to, when you have predator style speaking that this teacher is saying to her, like, oh, I miss our conversation. It's scary. And you see her stand up at the very end, right before the blackout. And you think, and I took it as she's joining the girls in solidarity with them. She's joining. It was 1000% she's joining. Of course. And it was so good to see the strength of that, that we believe these young women, we believe their story.

We are there with them and we unite. But there's such an important thing because he goes, you believe me, right? He's trying to get her on his side being like, I hope you still believe me that I didn't do anything. It's incredible. And I just thought the ending was so moving that I was like, oh my gosh, what did I just, I think I get, I think I sighed relief at the end because I was like, oh my gosh, that last five minutes, I'm just there with them. I'm there with all of them. You could have blacked out the ensemble and just made it about the two girls, but to see that all, it was staged so well, to put John Proctor, literal John Proctor, to put the teacher down on the stool down there was more impressive than just sitting him at the desk. Like there were so many things happening there.

[25:06] Richie Grasso: But I feel like too, it like leads back to the overall question here about like how these famous characters that we've been taught about all of our lives, you know, like, did you ever think that John Proctor was the villain? I never really thought of it like that until I took someone like this in this play to make me realize, oh, cause he has some problematic moments in the piece, but yeah, he is usually shown as the hero who saved the town, who saved the people. And it's like, whoa, but when you really think back to it and you're like, oh wait, no, he didn't have an affair with Abigail. Yeah. And like, okay. And this is the same thing with Abigail and Elizabeth doing that scene at the end is so, that's why it was like to see the girls doing that.

I'm like, oh yeah, Abigail and Elizabeth, that makes sense to have them do their presentation. And now we have a teacher who has a wife, who has a baby on the way, who was sleeping with a student. I mean, come on. That is the villain. That is 1000% the villain. And it's amazing how you never think about these things sometimes until you see a piece like this and it makes you realize, oh, wait a second. Let me look at it from that perspective, you know?

[26:12] Jeff Malone: Well, it's, it goes back to like, who's considered villainous and heroic in these famous pieces. And what we're taught, you know, well, look at Wicked. We're taught that the Wicked Witch is evil. Now look what Wicked, I'm very different than Griswold, obviously, but I'm trying to show other examples of famous texts interpreted differently. But the teacher starts off in this play saying, John Proctor is one of the greatest heroic characters of all time.

[26:40] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And Izzy, right. I want to ask you a question because we're going to go to Tony's talk in a second. You're Arthur Miller sitting in this theater watching this play in 2025. What do you think?

[26:55] Jeff Malone: I think I should be proud that my work is inspiring something political still. Years later. Years later. At a time when it was already coded in politics of what was going on at the time, which was what made it so epic of its time.

[27:08] Richie Grasso: Yes. It's, I think if you're sitting there as Arthur Miller, if he was still living, you would say, oh yeah. Like how impressive to see your piece interpreted like this. Tony Award talk. Tony talk for John Proctor is the villain. Definitely getting a best play nomination.

[27:21] Jeff Malone: Best play nomination. I will go as far as saying that I think this might win best play this year.

[27:27] Richie Grasso: It could, it really could. It's hard to tell right now. Because I have a theory right now, because we keep going back to Omeri and if Omeri was going to win best play. I'm leaning more toward Cole winning for Mary Todd Lincoln and John Proctor winning for best play.

[27:45] Jeff Malone: The play. Okay. And I think. Because I think they're going to go to the root of like, like they always do. There's a lot happening in this text that's super important. That's really well written and that's going to get over the comedy of Omeri. Even though Omeri is so smart, it's very hard for a comedy. It's very hard for a comedy to win Tony Awards. Most of the time, it's a play. A dramatic, serious play. But it's even though this has got comedy in it too.

[28:14] Richie Grasso: Literally coming down to this and Omeri now. Purpose definitely is up there for best play. I think, I think Hills of California should definitely still be thrown into the mix. I even think English should really, you know, I know that was a few months ago that Hills of California was too. I mean, there's so many plays. So many plays this year. Job, I mean, should be considered too. For sure. But, and I think some of these performers definitely could be actor or actress nominated.

[28:36] Jeff Malone: Well, one, I also think that Danya is going to get nominated for direction. I do think that Sadie will get nominated for leading. She's top billed here. So, but for featured actress, I do think that Fina and Amalia will. Yes. And then I also, I'm going to add one more in here. Obviously, I think this is also going to get creative design nominations. Lighting for sure, scenery, sound design, costumes. I think it could get a ton.

[29:06] Richie Grasso: Yep. But I think that there's going to be a featured actor nomination here for the teacher.

[29:11] Jeff Malone: Oh, okay. Well, you know, he's a Tony award winner.

[29:18] Richie Grasso: Yes, it's Gabriel Ebert. He did create a likable character that we liked the whole show. Until the end when we realized.

[29:26] Jeff Malone: Until we were like, Oh wait, I don't like you anymore.

[29:33] Richie Grasso: And I was completely blindsided by the performance that he gave us because he didn't do anything up until that moment that he was accused. That after that was when I said, Oh, and I think that's hard to do as an actor.

[29:46] Jeff Malone: Sure. It'll be interesting to see if that happens. I think this is, and this, and listen, the reviews just came out in New York times critics pick got tons of great reviews. People are loving this. I wrote down that I think this might be the best reviewed play of best reviewed show of the whole season. I think it had 17 positive reviews and like two on the fence.

[30:05] Richie Grasso: I will say, I think it's only playing until July. And so if this is going to keep getting more buzz with Tony, where does that people got to go get their tickets? Like you got to just buy the tickets soon, get it however you can and go sit anywhere in that theater to witness this. I think it's groundbreaking stuff.

[30:19] Jeff Malone: And I think like in the last little quick question here, why do you really feel like this play is important right now? And do you think that there should be a big takeaway from audiences?

[30:29] Richie Grasso: We're dealing with so many of these issues right now in the world today. We're dealing with gender issues, with accusation issues, with politics issues, and then to in high school settings with adults all over, look at the world, how it's shifting, it's changing. There's so much, so many horrible things happening all over the world. And yet to bring it to the root of theater, live performance, I even said leaving the, this should be an HBO miniseries or a movie. They should make this a film adaptation because we need to tell these stories. We need to listen to the youth and we need to, and I'm always such an old soul when it comes to bring it back to something classic like the Crucible, which works, which did work.

And how do we parallel that and say, oh, Crucible works, but let's interpret it differently because it's not perfect, but let's look at that character. And let's, in this educational style setting, it just, it was the trifecta for me of everything. It just felt like, yes, this is very important. It's 2018, the play is set. It could have been set in 2025. I mean, it really is. Same president in 2028, sorry, 2018, same president now in 2025. And it's just a different, it's just, yes, the play speaks volumes to what we're going through right now as a society.

[31:40] Jeff Malone: Oh my gosh, just about out of time. Final thoughts on John Proctor's The Villain Umbrella.

[31:46] Richie Grasso: You're going to be very disappointed if you don't see this play this year because it has a great chance of winning a lot. It has a great chance of being one of the most successful plays. I actually think that this could be a great high school play for people to do.

[32:02] Jeff Malone: Totally could see high schools doing this.

[32:04] Richie Grasso: But yeah, I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. And I actually hope that it lives on. I would love to see more people come into the roles as well.

[32:12] Jeff Malone: I would say, agree with all that. Epic piece. Must go see. I hope we see more Kimberly Belflower plays. Just like these younger playwrights coming up and doing this work.

[32:25] Richie Grasso: Yes, Kimberly, let's get your next play.

[32:27] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and bravo to producers and people that are supporting this because I do think it's a very hard industry to crack into when you're young. And someone is seeing this and saying we need this on a Broadway stage. So I'm happy about it.

[32:41] Richie Grasso: Really, really impressive. Great stuff. Wow. Good theater. I love talking about good, good theater. That does wrap up our discussions of this episode. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into John Proctor's The Villain on Broadway.

[32:52] Jeff Malone: Remember, we want to hear from you. Continue the conversation with us on Instagram at Half Hour Podcast. Also back on TikTok if you want to find us there. Drop us a comment on Spotify and let us know your thoughts on John Proctor is The Villain.

[33:05] Richie Grasso: And please leave us a review. Your reviews mean so much to us. Remember, you can listen to our past episodes and stay tuned for the many upcoming ones as well.

[33:11] Jeff Malone: Until next time, I'm Jeff.

[33:13] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie saying ta-ta for now.

[33:14] Jeff Malone: Bye.