John Proctor is the Villain

John Proctor Is the Villain is set in a high-school classroom in a small, rural Georgia town in 2018. Carter Smith is the English teacher for several 11th-graders—the straight-A student Beth, the new transfer student Nell, the wealthy girl Ivy, the pastor's daughter Raelynn, the slightly awkward Mason, and Raelynn's boyfriend Lee. Mr. Smith assigns the students the play The Crucible, the protagonist of which is John Proctor, who was convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. Beth forms the school's feminist club, with Mr. Smith as its sponsor. Tensions rise when Raelynn's estranged friend Shelby returns to school after a prolonged absence. During the semester, Ivy's father is accused of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement, a source of controversy in the small town, causing her to withdraw from the club. Lee tries to repair his relationship with Raelynn (having cheated on her with Shelby). Miss Gallagher, the school's guidance counselor, mediates various issues between Mr. Smith and the students. Over the course of the year, the class discusses The Crucible's themes of power, gender inequality, and female sexuality. In a tense class period, Shelby loudly disagrees with Mr. Smith's insistence that John Proctor is a good man, and announces to everyone that she had been having sexual intercourse with Mr. Smith over the last year. The accusation causes waves throughout the town. Despite her feminist ideals, Beth deeply admires Mr. Smith and is reluctant to believe Shelby, further straining relations among the girls. Nell and Mason grow closer, but Mason insults Shelby's perceived promiscuity, causing her to take off. Raelynn, her reluctant assigned partner for an interpretative project based on the play, follows her and the two reconcile. Shelby admits that Mr. Smith's abuse of power had left her feeling vulnerable, which is why she slept with Lee. Mr. Smith is allowed to continue teaching and turns his attentions to Beth. On the day of the project presentation, Ms. Gallagher notes rumors of Mr. Smith's predatory behavior. Raelynn and Shelby, acting as Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams from the play, imagine a world where their actions are not defined by the men in their lives. They begin dancing, echoing Abigail's dance in the woods. Mr. Smith angrily attempts to stop the performance, but the girls' cathartic dance is supported by Nell, Mason, and Ms. Gallagher. In the final moments of the dance, Beth stands from her desk and takes a step towards the girls; the lights go out, leaving the audience to wonder if Beth joins them. John Proctor Is the Villain includes several songs by pop artists such as Lorde and Taylor Swift. In some productions, these songs are performed in between scenes, as well as before the first scene and during the last scene. The Broadway production used ominous sounds and flickering lights to denote the transitions between each scene. Belflower received permission to use excerpts from The Crucible from Arthur Miller's estate.