The Play
This Georgia-connected playwright wrote John Proctor Is the Villain.
Who is Kimberly Belflower?
"We're holding Proctor up as this beacon of morality...but he slept with a teenager."
Who is Georgia?
This character starts a "feminist club" at the school, initially facing pushback and skepticism from her peers.
Who is Georgia?
John Proctor is the Villain revolves around a high school class studying this classic 1953 Arthur Miller play.
What is The Crucible?
The play heavily explores this social movement, which encourages survivors to speak out against sexual abuse and harassment.
What is the #MeToo movement?
The play is set in a small town in this US state.
What is Georgia?
"I'm not a victim. I'm just a girl who had a teacher who really cared about her."
Who is Beth?
This overachieving, anxious student is fiercely protective of her relationship with Mr. Smith until the truth begins to unravel.
Who is Beth?
In traditional literary analysis, John Proctor is viewed as a tragic hero, but Belflower's characters re-examine him as a villain due to his relationship with this underage character.
Who is Abigail Williams?
The play highlights how this modern technology and social platforms can be used to both ostracize victims and build solidarity.
What is social media (or smartphones)?
The play takes place in this year, when the #MeToo movement was reshaping the national conversation
What is 2017?
"Literature is a living, breathing thing. It shifts depending on where we are standing when we look at it."
Who is Mr. Smith?
This character is dynamic, loud, outspoken and best friends with Georgia.
Who is Raelynn?
Mr. Smith teaches that the Salem witch trials were an allegory for this 1950s anti-communist political movement.
What is McCarthyism?
This term describes the collective, supportive relationship between the female characters as they shift from competing over boys to defending one another.
What is sisterhood (or female solidarity)?
This Stranger Things star played Beth Powell in the 2025 Broadway production.
Who is Sadie Sink?
"I spent the last two months thinking I was crazy. Because everyone else acted like everything was normal."
Who is Shelby?
Raelynn's ex-boyfriend who is trying to navigate his own mistakes and understand the shifting socail dynamic around him.
Who is Lee?
The girls in the play begin to realize that Abby Williams wasn't a malicious liar, but rather a victim of this specific type of adult exploitation.
What is grooming?
The play challenges the "Boy’s Club" culture by dissecting how this type of behavior is often excused as "boys being boys" in small towns.
What is toxic masculinity?
The inciting incident is when this character returns to school after a sudden absence caused by a scandal involving her father.
Who is Shelby?
"I don't want to be a good guy if being a good guy means I just get to do whatever I want to people."
Who is Lee?
This sweet, slightly awkward boy is the other male student, often caught in the middle of the girls' intense discussions.
Who is Mason?
At the end of the play, the girls reject Arthur Miller's ending by staging their own collective, powerful version of this chaotic event from The Crucible.
What is the screaming/hysteria scene?
Instead of Salem's "witch hunt" targeting the innocent, the play flips the narrative to show how modern communities often hunt and attack these people instead.
Who are the accusers (or whistleblowers/victims)?