THE CRUCIBLE Selfie from Sam D.

            In the midst of The Crucible by Arthur Miller is the feeling of fear and insecurity. The entire town is enslaved to the idea put forth by one small group, and it escalates into something much larger. Although the text and acting conveys this idea well enough on its own, the set and scene transitions played a large part in creating the eerie atmosphere of the town and of the idea of uncertainty.

            As the audience filed into the theatre, the most obvious thing about the set to me was the fog. The fog machines were on for a good portion of the half-hour before the play began, and the fog itself was kept just thin enough to be able to see through it, but thick enough for it to be noticeably there. By the time the intermission rolled around, most of it had dissipated, but the machines started up again and kept the fog for the first scene of the second act. In literature, fog is often used as a metaphor for something that is unclear, and as the play centers on the question of whether the girls of Salem are telling the truth, it was a very telling introduction before any of the actors even stepped onto the stage. Even the thickness of the fog was a clue: it was clear enough for the truth to be visible, but it was still just dense enough for one to argue that the opposite might be true. This reminded me of how the girls of Salem pull the wool over the men’s eyes as they continue their act to get Goody Proctor, John Proctor, and a large number of others killed. The men had multiple opportunities to see what was really going on, especially when John Proctor presented his case to the court, but they chose not to and instead continued listening to the girls.

            The set and stage itself also added to the feeling of insecurity. The stage elements were all painted gray, and there were some pieces of gray cloth hung precariously on some of the taller parts of the stage. The color gray itself is an ambiguous color; it is not as straightforward as black or white and lands somewhere in between the two. Many of the townspeople do the same. They don’t want to believe that there is witchcraft in their town, but they also don’t have another explanation for what has been happening there. Also, the elements of the stage were in less than pristine condition. Although they had been painted, the wood was rough, and the pieces of cloth reminded me of dust covers on furniture from an attic that hadn’t been explored in years. The old feel compares to the townspeople, who are somewhat set in their ways, but it also contrasts to the new ideas of witch hunts that were gaining popularity in Europe. Whereas their religion is an old one, the idea of witch hunting is new and exciting to them and seems to be the perfect solution to their problem. In addition, the play was done in the round, so there were audience members on all sides of the stage. Because of this, I felt as though I was actually a member of the Salem community and had to decide for myself whether the “witches” were really witches at all. It felt as though we, not the actors, were the council deciding their fate, and I definitely felt the uncertainty that the townspeople must be going through.

            The transitions between scenes added to the insecurity of the town, as well. When the set needed changing, the entire cast walked out and slowly carried the props and furniture off the stage. The light was similar to that of the fog; it was bright enough to see what was going on, but dark enough to keep it from being the center of attention. The strangeness of it, however, was the way that the props were carried off. The cast that wasn’t on stage during the previous scene walked in, looking straight forward, and synchronously lifted whatever prop they were assigned to. Then, all together, they turned toward the exit and carried them off stage. This not only tells about the way the community works, but also about how uncertain they may be. The synchronized walking is obviously used to represent how the town works together and functions as a community; they know what they are required to do, and they do it the same way everyone else does. If any of them have any question about the events that are happening, they don’t show it. Although some members of the community might have doubts about the witch hunting, they still go along with it, because to disagree might mean to be accused of witchcraft themselves. They are trying to return their daily lives to the way they used to be before the “witchcraft” started.

            The Crucible shows how a community can be overtaken by uncertainty and the desire to solve a problem, even if the townspeople aren’t sure that they agree with the solution. I felt as though I were in the middle of the decision making and that the fog was clouding my vision as it did to the men on the council in an attempt to keep daily life as normal as possible. The set and transitions demonstrate this without the actors needing to speak a word, and they add another layer to the already complex functions of the town and the feelings of the townspeople.

THE CRUCIBLE Selfie from Kaley B.

The moment I opened the door of the Old Vic Theatre, I headed straight toward the poster display and then excitedly bounced into the theatre with a picture of John Proctor under my arm and a program clutched in my hand. Granted, I knew little about the play I was about to see besides that it dealt with the Salem witch trials, but I had an intuition that this production of The Crucible would be emotionally jarring and undeniably brilliant. Perhaps this feeling was also encouraged by the fact that my inner-fan girl could hardly wait to see Richard Armitage onstage. I sat down in one of the seats that encircled an arena stage that was surrounded with proscenium architecture, which had been transformed to create space for audience members. The floor was set with empty chairs soon to be filled with the “defendants” who would make or break the theatrical experience ahead. The theatre had transformed into a courtroom. I was the judge and this play was on trial by fire. Thanks to an ingenious artistic team, my preemptive anticipations were not disappointed, and my sensory response to the pre-show staging led seamlessly into the story of John Proctor’s struggle with moral responsibility and Elizabeth Proctor’s battle with judicial authority as the Salem law began to pass judgments on sins of the soul.

As a down-to-earth man who is familiar with unbounded emotion but is self-bound to God’s moral law, Proctor experiences the disastrous results of a jury holding legal power that scrutinizes and categorizes every part of human life. Reverend Parris tries to control his congregation by emphasizing the seriousness of sin, and the local court reinforces his tactics by punishing private sins in public. But when Proctor, spurred by loneliness and lust, commits adultery with his servant girl, Abigail Williams, he needs neither church authority or the court to awaken his conscience to the gravity of his sin. Although his reputation in the town remains spotless, he is bitterly aware of his folly and cannot forgive himself. As Elizabeth remarks, “the magistrate sits in your heart that judges you.” Elizabeth remains loyal to her husband, but no longer trusts even his most sincere efforts to please her and quietly rejects the kiss he offers her after entering their home from a long day of toil. While Proctor is convinced that his honor is permanently soiled, he continues to fiercely long for his wife’s trust and defends his Christian faith as sincere. When he realizes that he could expose Abigail’s deceit in order to save the women being convicted as witches, he is loath to do so because his guilty conscience tells him that his quality as a witness has been degraded. Yet when her malicious accusations impact his own home, his duty to his wife gives him clear obligations. In the witch trials of Salem, an entire life of morality could be overlooked on the grounds of a single accusation. John holds himself to a moral code that punishes solitary mistakes, which is why he feels such a heavy burden of guilt over his adultery. Yet his sense of right and wrong demands that he defend goodness even if he himself is not always righteous. Proctor is forced to push beyond his own shame order to maintain loyalty to the things that are truly important to him, such as his wife and his good name.

Although the stage presents scenes set in familiar, everyday areas such as bedrooms and kitchens, the mysterious lighting and the ritualistic preciseness of the choreographed blocking gave a dangerous, cultic quality to the action. The staging revealed how everyday activities can take on a dark quality when seen from a particular vantage point. The play constantly asks the audience to determine who is worthy of donning the black robes of judgment when a man or woman’s private life is held up for scrutiny. While areas of faith and practice are regulated to the private sector in modern America, Salem authorities felt that a Christian society should regulate the public’s morality. When Elizabeth is condemned because Abigail accuses her of witchcraft, the debate becomes Elizabeth’s word against Abigail. Abigail’s evidence is abstract and unable to be confirmed by anyone except for herself. Yet the appeal of her allegations is fueled by the intensity of the production and ambiance of the set. Many of the scenes begin with women performing an everyday task such as lighting a fire or carrying a jug of water. The audience, along with the judges in the Salem courts, had been taken from the courtroom and placed on the hearth. In Elizabeth’s trial, the accuser possesses all the power. Elizabeth will look guilty if she refuses to answer the court’s summons and yet cannot hope to be proven innocent. The court acts as if they can read man’s hearts and make judgments on deeds that should only be condemned before the throne of God. Though Elizabeth suffers under an unjust accusation, she realizes that it is wrong for a man to pass a verdict on the moral state of another human being. When asked to condemn John as a lecher, she denies his accusation because of her loyalty to her husband and conviction that it is not her place to condemn another’s private sins. Through a twisted attempt to uphold morality, the court ends up condemning sacrificial confession and faithfulness to a spouse. As John Proctor angrily deplores, “You bring down heaven and raise up a whore!”

I entered the theatre as an enthusiast and left the playhouse as a pupil. Though the stage created the atmosphere of a courtroom, an appearance of authority did not validate the judgments passed therein. The Crucible demonstrated that failure to distinguish between what should be punished by law and what should be punished by God can lead to tragedies where goodness is fatally disfigured by the evil tongue of fools endowed with the gavel. The play begs the audience to think twice before allowing fallible human authority to hold sway over matters of the human soul.

           

THE CRUCIBLE Selfie from Rachel Z.

 

Walking into the Old Vic Theatre, the space was already set up with chairs and the audience was encouraged to walk across the stage. The audience therefore seemed very much a part of the play. We were invited to explore the idea of redemption and forgiveness throughout the play itself. We were also given the opportunity to judge the characters for ourselves and watch as the characters developed and struggled with coming to terms with there own fates.

I had never read The Crucible, by Arthur Miller and knew little about what the play was going to be about. Kaley and I read the review outside of the theatre. I was a little concerned about how dark the play was really going to be. When we walked into the theatre, it was dark and had an eerie feel to the atmosphere of the play.

The idea of witchcraft plays an important role throughout the play and is the main plot line. The play begins with Betty, who is pretending to be ill or possessed by spirits, and Abigail telling the Reverend Parris that they had been dancing in the woods and that this was the cause of the illness. These leads into ideas such as truth telling and how much lies can affect peoples’ lives. 

The play itself was deeply rooted in truth telling and understanding how our actions affect the people around us that we love. This can be seen through John Proctor, (Richard Armitage) and Abigail Williams (Samantha Colley). We find out early in the play that John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth Proctor had asked Abigail to leave their house for a mysterious reason. That reason was that John had an affair with Abigail. This is reviled early on during the opening scene. John confronts Abigail about his action. Abigail acts out by telling John that they can still be together and that Elizabeth is to blame for his behavior. Abigail is unable to accept that she and John can not be together. I think that this affects their relationship and Abigail actions throughout the trials. Abigail uses this to her advantage to have Elizabeth arrested for witchcraft.  

Confession also plays an important role. John confesses to Elizabeth his sin. Another character, Giles Corey confesses that his wife has been reading books and he wants to know why. The relationship between Reverend John Hale also plays an important role with the idea of confession because he is the one who comes with his books to diagnose witchcraft in the village.  By the end of the play Reverend Hale realizes that he should be ministering to the women instead of accusing and punishing them for witchcraft. Due to the fact that the audience is so physically close to the action, we took on a vulnerable part. The audience was trusted with very intimate conversations such as with John confesses to Elizabeth and so we were receiving knowledge before the other characters.

The idea of promises plays an important role between Elizabeth and John. Elizabeth tells John that he was wrong to break his promise that he made to her. Towards the end of the play, John seeks forgiveness from Elizabeth and they are both are able to forgive each other. Elizabeth also realizes that she has not been a good wife and that she understands why John might have had the affair. Elizabeth can also not confess to witchcraft because she believes that she would be telling a lie.

 Lies become very central to the play, because the girls are pretending that things are happening to them and that people in the village during the trials are placing a curse of them. The leaders in the town seem to be placing their trust in a group of people that are influencing life and death decisions. For example, stone crushes Giles’ body because he is unable to confess to something that is untrue and his last words were “add more stone”. Giles is unable to lie, because he wants to confess what is true.

John confesses his crime to the people in the courthouse, but rips up his confession because knowing that it is going to be placed on the church door makes John realize that the town and his sons are going to see this confession. He knows that it is going to affect his relationship with people around him. He does not what to hurt others around him. Elizabeth takes this as a form of redemption and states, “he had his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him”.

The audience during the play was given the opportunity to make their own decision if the girls were pretending or this was a real thing. Though there was never a time where the audience was directly asked this, it was always implied. The story itself, becomes a story of redemption and forgiveness in a place where the town is littered with pride and lies that drive people’s lives.

THE CRUCIBLE Selfie from Marian P-S

The Crucible is a story set in Salem, Massachusetts set during the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail, her cousin Betty, and other women were discovered dancing in the forest, and Betty has fallen sick with an illness that seems otherworldly. When the talk of witchcraft sets a panic in the townspeople, Abigail, in order to cover her tracks, lies and gives names of people who she “knows” practice witchcraft in order to get the attention off of her and her friends. There is a struggle for power throughout the play between Abigail and the other female characters, and the audience watches helplessly as it plays out. Abigail desperately wants to become the alpha of the pack, and she will stop at nothing to get herself there. Frail Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor—the man Abigail loves—becomes Abigail’s target.  Full of spite, Abigail battles Elizabeth for dominance and stops at nothing and no one to obtain it.

The arena staging for The Crucible helps immerse the audience in the show. Throughout the play, the audience is right in the middle of the action. The audience gets to see Abigail, Elizabeth, and Mary up close, and personal and, therefore has a better idea of what kind of characters they are. Abigail is presented as strong and fearless in the beginning. She is not afraid to yell or get up close to the women she is trying to intimidate. Her posture is tall and her head is always held high, even when she is lying. She has a confident air about her, and is not easily intimidated. Mary is presented as being a lukewarm follower, and lives up to that role. She rarely looks people in the eye, and often cowers away when people get close to her. She shrinks constantly, allowing Abigail to expand around her space and helping her get the upper hand. Elizabeth is presented as being frail and weak. In the first scene in which she appears, she is seen barefoot in her house preparing dinner. Her shoulders are often stooped low. She never raises her voice or puts up a fight about anything. The stage set up allows the audience to observe the characteristics of each character’s personality, and cast their judgment.  

Abigail is an important character in The Crucible. She spends the entirety of the play scheming. Being the leader of her pack, she has a lot of influence over the young women in the play.  Abigail manipulates her young cousin, Betty, and some other women to go dancing in the forest as part of a spell incantation. She hopes to get rid of Elizabeth, John’s wife, in order to take her place in his household. She is headstrong, but without conscience. She does not care whose lives she ruins in the process of trying to get her way. She spends the play yelling out her innocence and condemning others. Her mental strength is presented alongside a wicked manipulative streak. Abigail’s morals are very loose. While she claims to be a God-fearing woman, she does not prove this with her actions. In the end, she steals Parris’ money, and, like a coward, runs away.

The antithesis of Abigail is Elizabeth Proctor. The audience is informed of her illness very early on in the play.  After she had had her last baby, she became ill. At the time, Abigail was working for their household and took on more responsibility, including having an affair with Elizabeth’s husband John. This affair is a source of contention for John and Elizabeth throughout the majority of the play. Elizabeth is, rightfully, untrusting of her husband, and John is tired of being doubted. However, Elizabeth has a good heart. She takes care of their household, and their children and does so without complaint. While she does not quite trust her husband, she also does not distrust him. She still shows great love and care for him.

Mary Warren is an important female figure in the play. She is the Proctors’ servant and also Abigail’s best friend. Mary goes along with Abigail’s accusations of witchcraft in the beginning. They all accuse innocent people in order to save themselves, because witchcraft is a crime punishable by death. However, Mary has a change of heart during the play. She, with prompting from John Proctor, realizes how wrong her lies are and attempts to make amends. But again, Abigail gets to her. Abigail and the young women pretend that Mary is cursing them, and Mary eventually gives in and accuses John of witchcraft.

Elizabeth Proctor, also accused of witchcraft by Abigail, has this far been defended by John. He realizes that, had he never had an affair with Abigail, she would very likely not be trying to kill his wife. It becomes a power struggle between Elizabeth and John versus Abigail, and, impossibly, Abigail is seated to win. A seventeen year old has the upper hand. When John confesses to adultery in the hopes of saving Elizabeth’s life—as witchcraft is a crime punishable by death—Elizabeth lies in the hopes of saving his honor. Instead, both John and Elizabeth are to be hanged for their crimes. In the end Elizabeth half-heartedly attempts to save John’s life. If John confesses to witchcraft, he can live, but Elizabeth knows that to confess to witchcraft would be a lie. John realizes that his wife will never admit to witchcraft in order to live, and follows in her footsteps. His desire to be as good a person as his wife believes him to be wins out over his desire to live.

             

The staging in The Crucible allowed the audience to feel as if we were part of the courtroom. Since most of the play deals with witch trials in an actual courtroom, the stage also seemed to expand to include us in the judgment of Elizabeth and John. Judge Danforth speaks directly to the audience at various points during the trails. He attempts to convince us, and himself, that he is doing the right thing in putting Elizabeth and John through these trails he knows they will lose. Being a part of the court meant that the audience felt helpless throughout the play. The audience watched characters we knew were good crash in court and get sentenced to death due to no fault of their own, but we could not do anything to stop it. The audience observed Abigail’s manipulative deceit playing out, but could not do anything to help Elizabeth and John.

The Crucible explores many themes, one of the main ones being female involvement. There was a fairly even ratio of women to men in the play; while the men dominate, as usual, the women to do have the most influential roles in the show. The morals of the men are exposed by the actions of the women. The female characters, as diverse as they are, make the story what it is. The stage allowed the audience to become part of the story as people in the courtroom. Abigail and Elizabeth’s conflict exposes the true nature of many of the townspeople in the process.