IT was the desire to stage Arthur Miller’s The Crucible that gave York Theatre Royal artistic director Damian Cruden the vision to create an in-the-round setting in the main house for this emotionally crushing play.

Ironically, when the chance came to direct it, the rehearsals dates clashed with Damian’s commitments at the helm of the Toronto production of The Railway Children.

In his stead, the opening production of the Theatre Royal’s In The Round season is in the hands of associate director Juliet Forster.

“It’s a fantastic play and a great opportunity for me,” she says. “But there is also sense in me doing it with my background in education as we have six actors from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in this production in our cast of 18.” Juliet can handle large casts. “I did A Tale Of Two Cities with 100 people at the Grand in Wolverhampton. That’s the biggest community cast I’ve ever had, but in terms of professional casts, this is the biggest.”

Miller’s play from 1953 is driven by its defence of the truth and pursuit of justice at the time of the Salem Witch Trial in 1692, the playwright drawing parallels with the McCarthy witch-hunt of Communist sympathisers in the Fifties.

When a group of girls is discovered dancing naked in the woods late one night, rumours of witchcraft and devil worshipping spread through the small community, setting off a series of irreversible and tragic events.

“It’s a story that hits a community at the height of their fears, with the explosion that then happens, so everything is condensed by Miller into four acts, though apparently in reality worse things happened to the community at that time and Miller decided not to depict them.

“To do that on stage without it being melodramatic is very difficult, but I think we’ve played the drama truthfully. It’s a real fine line, but we’ve done it.

“It could become histrionic as the language is heightened, but it’s phenomenally well written. It’s in Shakespeare territory, when you get into the rhythms of the speech and the choice of words.

“Miller was inspired by the King James Bible in the writing of the play and that feeds through into the language of the court in Salem, so it has the authentic voice of history.”

The Crucible is not confined to the McCarthy witch-hunt in its resonances, suggests Juliet.

“I don’t think it is to be read just in that way. Actually it’s just an extremely good play about how any oppressive regime limits individuality, and ultimately it’s about how does an individual respond to what’s happening? That’s what John Proctor can’t let go of and can’t walk away from.”

• The Crucible runs at York Theatre Royal until May 28; evening performances start at 7.30pm, Saturday matinees at 2.30pm, with an after-show discussion with the cast on Tuesday, May 24. Tickets can be booked on 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk, where more information on the ensemble season can be found.