Do playwrights ever get to write their own happy endings? Ask Kimberly Belflower, author of the critical Broadway hit, "John Proctor is the Villain."

For this episode we had the pleasure of talking to Kimberly Belflower, a young playwright who’s making quite a splash with her Broadway debut, “John Proctor Is the Villain” — yes, that John Proctor, from “The Crucible.” It just got seven Tony nominations, including for best play and for best leading actress in a play (for Sadie Sink — yes, that Sadie Sink, from the Netflix series “Stranger Things”).

Despite what the title may suggest, the new show isn’t a spoof of Arthur Miller’s play, which is usually interpreted as an allegory about the McCarthy era. Belflower’s story is set in a Georgia high school where students read the text through the prism of what’s been happening, darkly, to some of them. Their charismatic English teacher, played by Gabriel Ebert, has a key role.

We had a bracing conversation with Belflower about the early years of the MeToo movement, how she developed the play and worked with director Danya Taymor — and her surprising connection to our last guest, Jeffrey Seller!

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.