John Proctor Is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower is a 2018-set play following Georgia high schoolers reading The Crucible during the #MeToo movement. Students re-evaluate John Proctor not as a hero, but as a predator. The play explores teen girls’ experiences, grooming, and power dynamics, highlighting female solidarity and rage.
JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN
A Play by Kira Player (2019)
Comprehensive Study Guide
This study guide is designed to support students, teachers, and theatre practitioners engaging with
Kira Player's award-winning play. It covers plot overview, character analysis, key themes, dramatic
techniques, historical context, and discussion prompts.
1. Play Overview
John Proctor is the Villain is a contemporary American play written by Kira Player, first
produced in 2019. Set in a small-town Georgia high school, the play follows a group of students in
an Advanced English class as they study The Crucible by Arthur Miller — a classic text that
portrays John Proctor as a heroic, morally complex figure. As the students dig deeper into the
play, the young women in the class begin to question why a man who committed adultery with a
teenage girl is so readily celebrated as a hero.
The play received widespread critical acclaim and has been widely adopted in school curricula
across the United States as a text that pairs powerfully with The Crucible. It sparks vital
conversations about power, gender, literary canon, and #MeToo-era accountability.
Playwright Kira Player
Year Written 2019
Genre Contemporary Drama / Social Commentary
Setting A high school in a small town in Georgia, USA
Running Time Approx. 90 minutes (one act)
2. Plot Summary
Act One (The Play is One Act — Scene Breakdown)
The play opens in Mr. Smith's English class. He is a well-liked, charismatic teacher who has a
close relationship with his students — perhaps a little too close. The class is studying The
Crucible, and Mr. Smith enthusiastically defends John Proctor as a tragic hero, downplaying his
affair with Abigail Williams.
The female students — particularly Beth, Raelynn, Nell, and Ivy — start to push back. They
notice that the narrative consistently protects the powerful adult man (John Proctor) while
villainising the teenage girl (Abigail). Parallels begin to surface between John Proctor's behaviour
and Mr. Smith's.
As the play progresses, it is revealed that Mr. Smith has been engaging in an inappropriate
relationship with a student. The girls must decide whether to speak up, risk not being believed, and
navigate the social and institutional pressures that silence victims. The climax asks the audience
directly: who do we choose to believe, and why?
3. Character Analysis
Beth
The moral compass of the play. Thoughtful, articulate, and courageous. She is the first to name
what is happening and must overcome her own fear and love for her teacher to speak the truth.
Raelynn
Beth's best friend and the most outspoken of the group. Her boldness both drives the plot forward
and puts her at social risk. She refuses to let the teacher's charm blind her to his behaviour.
Nell
A quieter student who undergoes significant internal conflict. Her arc represents the students who
witness wrongdoing but are paralysed by loyalty or fear.
Ivy
A student who initially defends Mr. Smith. Her character shows how victims of grooming are often
the last to recognise — or admit — the power dynamic at play.
Mr. Smith
The antagonist. A charming, intellectually gifted English teacher whose admiration for John
Proctor mirrors his own sense of entitlement. He is not a cartoonish villain — his likability makes
him more dangerous and more realistic.
Shelby
A student whose story becomes the catalyst for action. Her experience echoes Abigail Williams's,
intentionally drawing a parallel between historical and contemporary power imbalances.
4. Key Themes
Power & Abuse of Authority
The play interrogates how institutional power — teacher over student, adult over child — enables
abuse. Mr. Smith's authority gives him control over students' grades, reputations, and social
standing, mirroring how systemic power silences victims.
The Literary Canon & Who Gets to be a Hero
A central question of the play is: why does the literary canon celebrate figures like John Proctor
while erasing or vilifying the young women around them? The students challenge the idea that
great literature is inherently neutral or objective.
Gender & Believability
The play explores why women and girls are so often not believed when they speak out. It shows
the mechanisms — social, emotional, institutional — that make it difficult to hold powerful men
accountable.
Grooming & Manipulation
Player carefully depicts how predatory relationships develop gradually, through flattery, special
attention, and manufactured intimacy. The play helps audiences recognise these patterns without
sensationalising them.
Solidarity & Collective Action
The female students ultimately find strength in standing together. The play suggests that individual
courage is difficult, but collective action is transformative.
Complicity & Silence
Several characters witness concerning behaviour but say nothing. The play asks: what
responsibility do bystanders carry? When does silence become complicity?
5. Relationship to The Crucible
Player's play is in direct conversation with Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953). Understanding both
texts enriches the experience of each:
• In The Crucible, John Proctor is a married man in his thirties who had an affair with Abigail
Williams, a teenage girl in his household. The text largely frames this as Abigail's seduction
rather than Proctor's predation.
• Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, and Proctor's refusal to falsely confess
is framed as heroic. However, Player's students ask: can someone be heroic in one context
and predatory in another?
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