The Crucible (Libretto) by Robert Ward Libretti - Digital Sheet Music

Libretto:
Written by Bernard Stambler, based on the play by Arthur Miller, German Translation by Thomas Martin

Synopsis:
The story is Arthur Miller’s impassioned parable of witchcraft and intrigue in colonial Salem; a story of good and evil, in which bigoted men and women used the cry of “witch” to destroy those they hated or envied. The town of Salem has been seized by a wave of hysteria. The slave, Tituba, is accused by the wily and pretty Abigail, who uses the situation to destroy the community. When the witch trial begins under the administration of the terrifying zealot, Judge Danforth, Abigail accuses Elizabeth, the wife of John Proctor, of witchcraft. Abigail hopes thereby to get Elizabeth out of the way and regain John’s affection. John remains loyal to his wife, however, even admitting in court to his adultery with Abigail in order to expose her fraud. He is not believed, however, and is himself arrested and, along with Tituba and other innocents, condemned to the gallows. In a blaze of courage at the opera’s end, John refuses to sign the false confession that would free him.