‘The Crucible’ opens tonight at La Plata theater
”The Crucible” opens at the Port Tobacco Players Theater tonight
The Devil is afoot in Salem, as neighbor turns against neighbor and one man’s sins come back to threaten his community in the Port Tobacco Players’ production of “The Crucible,” produced by Amy Wathen Cooksey and directed by Brian Dohonue. It runs Friday through Sunday from now until Oct. 6. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees begin at 3 p.m. at Port Tobacco Players Theater, at 508 Charles St. in La Plata
The cost is $18 for adults and $15 for seniors, students and members of the military. For tickets, visit www. ptplayers.com.
“The Crucible” was written by Arthur Miller, considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century, and debuted at the Beck Theatre on Broadway in January 1953. It won the Tony Award for Best Play that year and has since been adapted to film, opera and television.
The play is a fictional retelling of the mass hysteria surrounding the “Salem Witch Trials” that took place in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692, during which 19 people were executed for witchcraft.
Miller wrote the play as an allegory for the “Red Scare” persecution of suspected communists during the 1940s and ’50s. Ironically, Miller would find himself in the “crucible” a few years later when he appeared before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee; Miller was blacklisted and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others at meetings he had attended.
Director Brian Donohue said he performed as the main character in a production of “The Crucible” 16 or so years ago.
“The writing is so beautiful, it’s just amazingly well written,” Donohue said. “On it’s face, it’s a great story. Even if you know nothing about the McCarthy hearings, which he referenced when he wrote this, you can still appreciate the story.”
Donohue said that audiences can see parallels between the 1690s and the present.
“I think it’s relevant today, because I think what you see in this play is the breakdown of society, because you see neighbor against neighbor, they go to the same church, but they’re accusing each other of being witches and the most hateful things. I think it’s a timeless play.”
Christopher Fleming plays Puritan farmer John Proctor, the central character of the tale. A secret in his past comes back to haunt him and threaten his family.
“He’s a man, trying to do the right thing. He messed up, and he knows he messed up, but he’s trying to do the right thing,” Fleming said.
Kate Taylor plays Abigail Williams, an orphan who comes to wield great power through the witch trials.
“For the most part, she’s seen as the antagonist, this villain, but for me, I didn’t want to play her as the villain,” Taylor said. “She is a person who starts out her life as good and she gets so broken down by society so many times, whether by fault of her own or fault of someone else, that the only thing her mind knows how to strike back with is hate … and that fuels her madness.”
Heather Wetherald plays Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife. Wetherald said she sees parallels between Abigail and Elizabeth despite their animosity.
“I believe that Elizabeth is broken, just as Abigail is broken, but in a different way,” Wetherald said. “You see her starting off as cold and in control of her emotions, and wearing a mask. A lot of people say she’s a very strong character, and I would agree with that, but I would also say that inside, she is very broken.”
Ada Donahue plays Mary Warren, a young servant in the Proctor household who becomes caught up in forces beyond her control. “She has to go to court,
and really, she’s very brave for doing that. She’s just a girl; I can’t imagine doing that … going to court, testifying against everything she’s been doing, then having all these powerful men yelling at her,” Ada Donahue said.
Matt Jones portrays the Rev. John Hale, a minister who has devoted himself to the study of witchcraft and the Devil’s works.
“Hale has the most satisfying arc of anyone in the show” Jones said. “With the real Rev. Hale, the Salem witch trials really began and ended with him, and you really see that in the show.”
Larry Daniele said the play sets up a contrast between Hale and his character, Salem minister Rev. Samuel Parris.
“One is a more admirable figure, the other, not very,” Daniele said. “[Parris] had the wherewithal and the power to nip this in the bud, but he chose not to, for his own selfish and personal reasons. The two reverends start out as friends, who respect each other, and as the story evolves, that certainly dissipates and they become rivals.”
Shemika Berry, an historical interpreter, said she wanted to give her character, Parris’ enslaved Barbadian Tituba, a voice.
“I wanted to give her emotion, I wanted to show her heart, that she cared about the children,” Berry said. “She feels betrayed by Abigail, because she at some point, because they are both ostracized in the community, felt that Abigail was the closest person to a friend that she would have, in this situation where she has been taken from her homeland, purchased by this man, and brought to this entirely foreign land, to be his slave, and she doesn’t have anyone else to relate to … when the opportunity presented itself for her only friend to throw her under the bus, she sees that she really truly is alone in this world.”
Composer James Watson crafted the eerie music and sound effects that accompany the performance.
“The main thing was to not have it be too melodic,” Watson said. “We wanted to have period instruments, so things that could have been heard at that time, in the 1600s, so we’ve got a hurdy-gurdy in there, we have strings, we have drums that are from the islands – more Cuban than Barbados, but of that era. Then I’ve also added some spectral effects, which are not period instruments; screeching, there’s a waterphone, which is a very contemporary instrument, it sounds very creepy.”
Ada Donahue said she enjoyed being able to work with her father, director Brian Donohue, on the play.
“Whenever I’m having a hard time, or I don’t understand something, I know I can always talk to him, he’s a really great person to talk to,” she said.
“Brian as a director is fantastic,” added Berry. “He knows just when to push the cast enough, and when he’s gotten us to where we didn’t even know we could reach, then he lets us know, ‘You did a good job.’ I’ve worked with Brian before, as a fellow cast member and as a director on another show, and I appreciate the challenges that he gives the cast, and how he sees in us what we don’t see in ourselves, and one day we just look at each other, and we realize, ‘hey, we have a show,’ and it’s a really, really good one and people should come out and see it. It’s history come to life.”