The Set Design (Jail) by David Barber for "The Crucible".
More than just good theatre, The Crucibleby Arthur Miller has stood the test of time as political theatre. Using the Salem Witch Trials (three of its victim’s memorials are shown above) the playwright explores how such injustices come about. Miller takes on the way people will use fear and intimidation to silence opposition, and how truth is always a casualty of justice miscarried.
Even in supposedly civilized societies, persecution and the encouragement of a mob mentality and peer pressure are often used for political or financial gain.
The Salem witch trials were supposed to reveal the true witches of Salem, but it really was about power and property, with a little bit of revenge thrown in. Similarly, the Ku Klux Klan harassed and murdered black people simply because of the color of their skin, mainly to keep the white males in positions of power and control.
When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, he clearly had the victims of Senator Joe McCarthy’s communist witch hunt in mind. The Fifties were a decade when progressive Americans cowered in fear of being named communists, or socialists, or even liberals. Today, many Americans still like to write off whole groups of people, as we read of the daily harassment of Muslims. America is not a friendly place for people who happen to wear unusual turbans and head wraps. Some, like the Sikhs, aren’t even from the Middle East.
Watch the news to hear about Latinos living in American border towns being singled out for random searches. Synagogues still get swastikas painted on their walls. Patriotic gays and lesbians continue to be drummed out of the military and made the object of derision by pols playing to the guttersnipes. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Lies and accusations of non-conformity are the grist of today’s politics, and has tied us up in knots as we look on in frustration. For a free and equal society, we sure have some embarrassing baggage, don’t we.
Julianne Boyd directs "The Crucible" for Barrington Stage Company.
So Julianne Boyd, artistic director of Barrington Stage Company could not have picked a more opportune time to bring Miller’s classic work back to the Main Stage of Barrington Stage Company. Running from October 6 to 24, 2010 it stops a week short of Halloween, the biggest tourism week for Salem, MA. For the city, the Salem Witch Trials are still a cash cow.
The Crucible is Arthur Miller’s most performed play, and was first produced in 1953 starring Arthur Kennedy and Beatrice Straight. The Crucible, set in 1692, uses the Salem witch hunts as an historical allegory for McCarthy’s blacklisting of Americans in the 1950’s. The same mob hysteria takes hold in both periods as Miller examines religious intolerance, perversions of justice and the individual’s role in society. The Crucible, which never seems to lose its relevance, explodes with passion, fear, and danger when a group of teenage girls, caught dancing in the forest, take their revenge on their Salem Puritanical society by naming names of townspeople who they claim are witches.
Julianne Boyd is very familiar with The Crucible, having been the first play she ever directed, and in Biloxi, Mississippi no less. The community was very divided, with half staying away from the performances in protest. Light and truth can do that to bigots and those who depend on ignorance to hold their dominant positions. In 2008 Boyd staged To Kill a Mockingbird in this same seasonal slot. She has a knack of finding theatrical works that have remained relevant over the years.
The production features Christopher Innvar (BSC’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Private Lives) as John Proctor, Kim Stauffer (BSC’s A Streetcar Named Desire) as Elizabeth Proctor, newcomer Jessica Griffin as Abigail Williams, Robert Zukerman (BSC’s Ring Round the Moon and The Collyer Brothers) as Deputy Governor Danforth, Fletcher McTaggart as Reverend John Hale (TV: Law & Order), Peter Samuel as Reverend Parris (BSC’s South Pacific), Edward Cating as Judge Hathorne, Gordon Stanley (BSC’s The Fantasticks) as Giles Corey, Rosalind Cramer as Rebecca Nurse/Sarah Good (BSC’s To Kill A Mockingbird), Jeffrey Kent as Thomas Putnam (BSC’s A Streetcar Named Desire), Glen Barrett as Francis Nurse, and Matt Neely as Ezekiel Cheever. The cast also includes Betsy Hogg as Mary Warren, Starla Benford as Tituba, Peggy Pharr Wilson (BSC’s Carousel and To Kill a Mockingbird) as Mrs. Ann Putnam, Maggie Donnelly as Mercy Lewis, Caroline Mack as Betty Parris, Gabrielle Smachetti as Susanna Walcott.
The Set Design (Jail) by David Barber for "The Crucible".
The production design team for The Crucible includes scenic design by David Barber (BSC’s Sleuth), costume design by Kristina Sneshkoff (BSC’s The Memory Show), lighting design by Scott Pinkney (BSC’s The Whipping Man and Carousel) and sound design by Brad Berridge (BSC’s Pool Boy and Absurd Person Singular). Renee Lutz is production stage manager.
In conjunction with The Crucible, Barrington Stage will host Symposia on Arthur Miller Columbus Day Weekend, October 9-10. The weekend will include two free events: Seeing Red: Children of Blacklisted Writers and How The Crucible Came to be the Voice of American Conscience. Seeing Red: Children of Blacklisted Writers, a panel discussion moderated by Chris Rohmann, will be held on Saturday, October 9 at 4pm on the BSC Mainstage, 30 Union Street. Rohmann is an arts writer, theater director, critic, author and musician. Panelists include Kate Lardner, whose father was blacklisted journalist and screenwriter Ring Lardner, Jr., one of the “Hollywood 10;” Marguerite Thomas, whose father was the blacklisted film publicist George H. Thomas, Jr.; and Tony Kahn, whose father was the blacklisted screenwriter Gordon Kahn. How The Crucible Came to be the Voice of American Conscience will be held Sunday, October 10 at 1pm on Stage 2. Dr. Sue Abbotson, noted Arthur Miller scholar, will talk about how Miller came to write the play, the public’s initial reaction and how it has since grown in stature. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling the Box Office at 413-236-8888.
Performances of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are from October 6 through October 24 – Wednesday and Thursday at 7pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm at BSC Mainstage, 30 Union St., Pittsfield. An additional matinee will be held on Wednesday, October 20 at 2pm. Student matinee performances are October 8, 15, 19 and 22 at 10am (not open to the public). Press Opening: Sun., October 10 at 3pm. Tickets: $15-$35. Weeknight Previews: Oct. 6-8: $20 and $15. Pay What You Can Night for 35 year olds and younger: Friday, October 8 at 8pm. Family Night: Youth 18 and younger are free when accompanied by a parent/guardian on Friday, October 15 at 8pm. Barrington Stage is fully-accessible, including wheelchair accessibility and assisted listening devices at every performance. Accessible seating is available by reservation. For ticket information, call 413-236-8888, stop by the BSC Box Office at 30 Union Street or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.
I’d like to point out that those are not the actual grave stones of the accused. No one actually knows where the bodies are buried. Those engravings are part of the memorial that surrounds the cemetery in Salem.
Also, it’s Muslims, not Moslems.
Ed Note: Thank you, corrections have been made.
It does say muslims
I believe Julianne Boyd did a great job directing Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Her knowledge of The Crucible was definitely shown from the set design to the overall performance of each character. The Crucible is an exceptional play that questions injustice and the extent of what we believe in. I can definitely see how the lies and accusations shown today resemble the lies and accusations that took place in The Crucible. The Crucible teaches us lessons that are very important, such as to stand up for what you believe in even through tough situations. Overall, I love the play!
I think that Arthur Miller’s the Crucible was a very interesting play. All the actors did a fantastic job acting out each of the character. I was most impressed by John Proctor and Reverend Hale. I thought they both got really into and did a great job. The play teaches us many lessons like stick to what you believe in no matter what anyone else says to you. It also says the more wealthy people have a bigger role in society and that is the case today also. The play was very good!
I feel Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible was a very remarkable and well thought out performance. It showed how people in our society today can rule with force and confidence. Money also is a very important value as well, for example Thomas Putnam. His role presented how his wealth was more significant then anything else. Personally i enjoyed how the actors interpreted their roles and how I could see their emotions changing throughout the play. I also liked how it made me think about certain groups today, such as Muslims. I would definitely love to see this play again!
In my opinion, The Crucible is still relevant in today’s society. Barrington Stage Company did a great job performing this play, and the actors portrayed a very serious topic in an easy to understand and, at times, satirical manner. It is easy to see how we can relate the events in The Crucible to those occurring today such as the discrimination against Mexican immigrants. The play highlighted some interesting actions of different people, which can be seen as ridiculous. As one member of the audience pointed out in the talk balk, some of the ideas that these people believed in were absolutely ridiculous, and looking back, we have to wonder how such events were allowed to occur without more people standing up and realizing that there were no logical reasons for any of these so called “witches” to be put to death. Especially when some of these killings upset the entire town and ultimately broke people apart. I think we should take this example and learn from it before our society ends up just like Salem’s. I congratulate the actors for their performance and the enjoyable play they put on.
The Crucible was a very informative, yet entertaining play. It was very clear that fear motivated the community which resulted in mistreatment and undeserved death. The actors and actresses had a strong performance and were able to convey the unbelievable mindsets of the 1600′s. Arthur Miller was able to create a play that only pertained to the Salem Witch trials, but also related to many current day problems. It showed how lies and accusations can lead to inequality and injustice. I think that leaving this play I was able to grasp a better understanding of ethical dilemmas and how they can control a community.
After watching and reading the play, I realize how relevant the Crucible is. In this day and age people still feel persecution . An example of the type of persecution that the innocent women in the play felt in today’s world, would be the constant issue of bullying, Recently it has become a common snd reoccuring thing that people bully innocent children, and those children become fearful and do something drastic.. Another example of the driscrimination of people that still occurs today is the treatment of latinos in the United States. Recently in Arizona a law was passsed that requires all immigrants, even if legal to carry their immigration papers. This law is a prime example of how the generalization and harassment experienced in The Crucible still relates to our world. As for the play, I believe that Juliane Boyd and the Barrington Stage Company did an appludable job of finding actors who performed the play magnificantly. I also applaud the theater for how professional their facilities were. To me it felt like a broadway show in the Berkshires. I absolutely loved the play and recommend it to all.
The conflicts and emotions in the Crucible are ones that can still be felt today. Julianne Boyd directed this play in a manner that conveyed the importance and relevance of the play in today’s society. The possession of power in a community is an important aspect of the play. The ones with power in the play exploited the other characters by using their fear. The play focuses on the way terror and feelings of vulnerability can control a society and affect the choices they make. Fear affects us now just as much as it did in the 1950′s and just as much as it did during the Salem Witch Trials. The Barrington Stage Company did an excellent job conveying the emotions and themes of The Crucible.
This was a wonderful play. I think that Julianne Boyd did an exceptional job with all aspects of it. You could tell that the story was well reasearched by everyone involved. the actors were great and they were all were very into it, and acted out each character to perfection. The set was great and just what i imagined when we read the novel. The play was easy to follow and the transitioning from scene to scene was very fluid. THis play was great and it kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.
The play, The Crucible, performed by Barrington Stage Company was a very unique performance. I believe that between the actors and the artistic director, Julianne Boyd, they really made this play come alive and feel relevant today. The actors approached their characters in a special way, by sometimes adding a hint of humor within the lines. This gave me a new perspective on the entire play itself. Despite, in some cases, the actors making the characters their own, I believe the gravity of the performance really sunk in. You could feel the tension and the fear of the unknown throughout the play. This really gave audience members something to grasp onto and even to look forward to. The ideas of persecution towards people who are different is shown in The Crucible. This is also a major problem in today’s world when looking towards the bigotry of different racial, religious, or even personal groups. All in all, I believe that the play was really well modernized to fit today’s world and I would definitely enjoy seeing it again!
The play The Crucible was tremendously performed and directed. The characters did a fantastic job with their roles and it was clear to me that everyone had a great understanding about how the play was meant to be performed. The Salem Witch Trials are an important period in history and the play allows people to understand what had happened during this time. I learned numerous lessons from the play such as wealth, land, and power should not be a person’s main priority. This greedy nature caused the death of many innocent people who had no reason to die. Overall the play was excellent.
The Crucible was a very interesting play. Julianne Boyd did a wonderful job in executing the play and making it so the actors were able to do a great job in being able to add some humor to an otherwise very serious play. It really made you think about the injustice in the world and how crazy some situations in this world are. I agree with all the examples that Julianne Boyd gave in showing how the play is relevent in todays society. The communist witchhunt, Ku Klux Klan, daily harassment against Muslims, and Lations who get stopped and searched on the American border are all situations in which people use fear and intimidation in order to retain or gain power and silence their opposition. Kids who get bullied everyday in school is another example. When people become scared or overwhelmed they often end up doing ridiculous things. This was the main point and theme of the Crucible which will make this play relevent through out the hundreds of years after it was originally written.