Saoirse Ronan’s Broadway play The Crucible earns close to €500k before opening night

Saoirse Ronan looks like she’s about to conquer Broadway on top of everything else, as the Broadway show she’s starring in, The Crucible has already raked in in close to half-a-million euro ahead of its official opening.

The Brooklyn star made her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible on Tuesday night.

The start date was moved from February 29 so the 21-year-old could attend the Oscars at the weekend, where she was nominated for Best Actress for her role in Brooklyn.

The Crucible is based on the Salem witch trials of 1692 with Ronan's character Abigail Williams the teenager who tries to use the town's terror to her own advantage.

She is joined onstage by Ben Whishaw as ex-lover John Proctor, Sophie Okonedo as his wife Elizabeth and Ciarán Hinds as the conceited Deputy-Governor Danforth.

The play is directed by Ivo van Hove, who recently directed the David Bowie musical Lazarus, which Bowie wrote with Irish playwright Enda Walsh.

Speaking on Irish radio last October, Ronan said she was "terrified" at the prospect of treading the boards. She added: "It's completely new territory for me. I didn't ever train. I've never done a play before, apart from playing a tree in a school play when I was six.”

The official opening night of The Crucible is Thursday March 31.