THE BURN

by Philip Dawkins

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 IRL. This world premiere play explores what happens to a teacher and his students when a classroom conflict turns into an online witch-hunt.

The Burn was commissioned by Steppenwolf for Young Adults.

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 IRL. This world premiere play explores what happens to a teacher and his students when a classroom conflict turns into an online witch-hunt.

The Burn was commissioned by Steppenwolf for Young Adults.

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THE BURN

Recommended by

  • Nick Malakhow: THE BURN

    "The Burn" falls into what is rapidly becoming my favorite new sub-genre of play--the "Play in Conversation with 'The Crucible'" genre--because these plays reposition the themes and issues from the Witch Trials to center women in the story rather than that bore, John Proctor! Here, Dawkins astutely focuses on the ways that society pits women against one another in order to distract from the horrors and crimes of the patriarchy and toxic masculinity. "The Burn" theatricalizes the online world in a compelling and super-saturated-but-low-tech manner. One grand gesture of projection/technology is...

    "The Burn" falls into what is rapidly becoming my favorite new sub-genre of play--the "Play in Conversation with 'The Crucible'" genre--because these plays reposition the themes and issues from the Witch Trials to center women in the story rather than that bore, John Proctor! Here, Dawkins astutely focuses on the ways that society pits women against one another in order to distract from the horrors and crimes of the patriarchy and toxic masculinity. "The Burn" theatricalizes the online world in a compelling and super-saturated-but-low-tech manner. One grand gesture of projection/technology is used very effectively and chillingly at the climax.

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Year 2018