DORCHESTER Youth Theatre are back on stage tonight and tomorrow with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

This unsettling tale, set in 1692, tells the story of how the small community of Salem, Massachusetts, is stirred into madness by superstition, paranoia and malice after the girls in the village ‘confess’ to using witchcraft to get what they want.

One of the girls, Abigail Williams, had an affair with married man John Proctor and says she is in love with him. But by accusing and implicating him in the dark deeds, she risks bringing him to trial and then to the gallows.

The play is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.

Miller wrote it as a condemnation of the McCarthy communist witch hunts.

The show comes less than a year after DYT won a place at the finals of the National Theatre’s Connections scheme.

Director Jo Simons said: “It is a fantastic story based on real people and you can read the transcripts of the court case on the internet.

“It’s a challenge to do because it’s not just the language and the accents, it’s the way people thought and acted back then.

“But my seniors have been really enthusiastic and have loved doing it.”

The show is at Dorchester Corn Exchange in High East Street on March 13 and 14 at 7pm. Tickets are £5 plus concessions and is for ages 12 and over. Call 01305 266926 for details and bookings.