Big Village's Crucible on Saturday night. Which put me in mind of The Children's Hour which I saw about a month ago.

Ostensibly, the two plays couldn't be more different. The Crucible, you've probably heard of. The Children's Hour? Unless you slavishly read the London theatrical pages, I doubt it.

But actually, both are remarkably similar. Both deal beautifully with the horrifyingly broad repercussions of the actions of a hysterical (or vindictive or simply thoughtless) child.

In The Crucible, a bunch of supposed suspects get hung.

In The Children's Hour, two girl teachers - who've struggled and striven to build their little school up from nothing - lose all their pupils on account of the false accusation. The more unfortunate girl teacher shoots herself to boot. (Well, you know how it goes. She's in love with the other girl and can't cope with the (lesbian) shame. This is, after all, 1934.)

Both are brilliant plays. Carefully constructed, properly twisty turny things that keep you guessing (if you're not napping) up to the eleventh hour.

Interestingly, I fancy I saw better acting (controversially) in the local Big Village production of The Crucible.

Keira Knightly came into her own in the final moments of her Children's Hour with a chillingly empty devastation. And Elisabeth Moss was both very competent and very sweet.

But this Crucible was immediately raised up from the ranks of a million poorer versions by a stunning John Proctor. (Tried trepidaciously to recruit him for A&C but he's already busy.)

They were burdened with children that were far too old. Whereas the London production had the budgets to afford 'children' that looked a little bit more like children. The luxury of money.

But all in all, I'm left campaigning defiant again for the (sometime) virtues of a lot of this amateur stuff that we wade around to watch.

With nothing more - as I've said before - than bundles of love and enthusiasm, we often (if I may clump myself for a second in this community) don't do half bad.

Pats on the back all round.