​THE BURN
BY PHILIP DAWKINS, DIRECTED BY LOGAN SERABIAN
PRESENTED IN CONVERSATION WITH MORE WEIGHT: A DERIVATIVE NEW WORK INSPIRED BY ARTHUR MILLER'S 'THE CRUCIBLE' 

Written in response to the spread of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller's classic work The Crucible explores a paranoid witch hunt and its very real consequences; inspired by this epic drama comes the New England premiere of Philip Dawkins's THE BURN, a modern telling of the way social media blurs the lines of truth and fiction and paves the way for new kinds of witch hunts in 2018. Mercedes is an outsider. Tara makes sure she knows it. When a high school production of The Crucible forces them together, tensions escalate into acts of bullying – both online and off.

​Originally commissioned by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater for their 2017/18 season and directed by Logan Serabian ​for The Wilbury Group, THE BURN ​is a thrilling new that play explores what happens to a teacher and his students when a classroom conflict turns into an online witch-hunt.
​


REVIEWS FOR THE BURN

"Bullying isn’t such a new concept, of course, but when a contemporary playwright as talented as Philip Dawkins chooses to use The Crucible as a means of viewing bullying in the technological age, audiences can experience its timeless, destructive nature...The Burn is provocative and brilliant in all ways. The writing, the direction and the acting all infuse an important life force into the story that promises to stay with the audience for a long time after the curtain drops." - THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
​
"Captivating Crucible vs. cyberbullying....Combining the theme of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with modern day teens engaged in cyberbullying makes for a thought-provoking, intense play by Philip Hawkins. The new play, cleverly staged and directed by Logan Serabian, gets its message across loud and clear, thanks to some top-notch performances by its five-member cast." - CRANSTON HERALD / WARWICK BEACON

"In 90 minutes with no intermission, The Burn is a tightly packed look into how modern teenagers, with cell phones and iPads, are ultimately no different from children three centuries ago, driven by the same social and psychological forces that can turn a group into a bullying mob. ​The Burn is Wilbury at its best: a small but gifted cast in an intimate setting performing intellectually challenging and engaging material." - MOTIF MAGAZINE

"A gritty and haunting exploration of teenage cruelty...The Burn is not only an ideal play for high school students to see but for social media addicts as well. With the spike in teen suicides due to cyber-bullying, the play shows how mean-spirited words can often result in serious consequences. The Burn doesn't offer any easy solutions to the increasing amount of hate in our society, but does hold up a mirror to our darkest impulses." - EDGE PROVIDENCE
​
"Wilbury's The Burn is a sharp look at teenagers today...and The Burn has a point to make. The internet, with all its power and opportunity also can be used to tear up lives, to ruin good works. This production goes just a little too far in making that point.But then, we all probably should put down that little electronic box we carry around everywhere. We don’t have to spend the whole day talking into it, making it the pointed center of our lives all too much." - THE PUBLIC'S RADIO

"The play acknowledges a surprising number of subjects – the overtly Christian overtones of addiction recovery programs, for instance – while only diving deeper into the main drama, that of pious Mercy (Sarah Leach) and her inability to fit in at a Chicago public high school. As her nemesis, Daraja Hinds makes an excellent alpha, outwardly smart and manipulative but inwardly flailing around just as much as every other teenager....You don’t need to like (or even know) The Crucible to appreciate this crafty, unsettling drama." - LAW AND ORDER PARTY
​

---

​PRODUCTION PHOTOS

CAST

Shannon Hartman

Sarah Leach

Daraja Hinds

Maggie Papa

Brien Lang

CREATIVE TEAM

THE BURN
By Philip Dawkins
Directed by Logan Serabian

Set Design by ​Keri King
Projection & Light Design by Andy Russ
Costume Design by Emily Taradash
Technical Direction by ​Dave Carney

Production Photos by Erin X. Smithers
Props / Scenic Assistant Maggie Papa
Production Assistant Jessie March
Stage Management by Emily Varden

*Actor appears courtesy Actors Equity Association.

TICKETS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR THIS PRODUCTION

SAVE ON YOUR TICKETS WITH A MEMBERSHIP. LEARN MORE.