Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" is one of those plays which can be very difficult for a theater company to produce. It is a show thick with drama and dramatic undertones, as well as the allegories to which Miller alludes to in the story, mainly the blacklisting of many individuals during the era of McCarthyism in the 1950's.
It is a complex piece of theater and any theater should be commended for attempting to tackle it. Shawnee Playhouse deserves such commendation and their production is good ¦ it's just not great.
The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts at the onset of the infamous "witch trials" which stirred the small New England town into a murderous frenzy from 1692 to 1693. A group of young girls are discovered by the Reverend Parris (Dan Moldovan) dancing and cavorting in the woods which causes several of the girls to fall into a mysterious trance. The reverend accuses his maid Tituba (Michelle Backus) of bewitching the girls and of cavorting with the devil. This escalates into other accuations and innocent questions suddenly causing fingers to be pointed at innocent women.
The town solicits the help of the Reverend John Hale (Mark Allan Laird) to investigate the accusations and determine if the devil is, indeed, at work in Salem. People are arrested for witchcraft on no more "evidence" than the word of another.
A sharp farmer named Giles Corey (Scott E. McIntosh) inadvertently has his wife accused merely by asking about the books she reads in private. Wealthy landowners Ann and Thomas Putnam (portrayed by Sarah Landstrom and Dan Stripp) see the witch-hunt as an opportunity to remove people who have been quarreling with them over land rights.Rev. Hale questions the accusers who are led by the manipulative and devious Abigail Williams (Taylor Rupp) who has fallen in love with John Proctor (Patrick Turner) and wants him for her own. In order to accomplish this she and her cohorts begin to name a long list of innocent townspeople as being in league with the devil and they are arrested and interrogated ¦ including John Proctor's wife Elizabeth (Amy Cramer).
Proctor is able to convince his servant Mary Warren (Aubrey Haskell) to tell the court that the accusations of her friends are merely pretense but Abigail and the others are able to turn the tables on her and John Proctor's hopes for a fair hearing (and justice) are quickly destroyed by hypocrisy, arrogance and deceit.
"The Crucible" at The Shawnee Playhouse has some interesting ideas “ some of which do not work but others end up being effective.
One very effective scene is at the start of the show as the townspeople "gather" prior to the show to sing hymns while the girls (silhouetted behind a screen) are seen dancing with Tituba. Another interesting moment is a visualization of Abigail's "demons" during her confrontation with John. I found this distracting but many people in the audience enjoyed this technique. There is also a clever insert in the playbill, written as a verse from a hymnal, giving instructions to the audience rather than a pre-show speech.
The acting is good all around but there are moments when some actors behaved in a twenty-first century manner rather than as Puritanical citizens of 1690's America. There are emotional outbursts which seemed uneven “ slamming of desks and yelling when less emotion may have been more effective in the scene.
Of course, there are also good moments such as a tender reunion between John Proctor and his wife near the end of the play and a sad realization by a truly good woman (Elizabeth McDonald) that she is being sentenced to death when she has truly done nothing wrong.
The show attempts to be stylized using a white and red motif which I understood but also felt was overused in some instances and not used to it's full effect in others. "Red" could have been used to better effect if it were used to highlight the evil characters. For example, draping the chairs of the evil characters at the trial while the "innocent" sat in white. The white chairs and black table set was an effectively simple set but when these chairs are turned to make separate scenes they seemed to be more cumbersome than effective.
One moment that struck me was a scene in which the manipulative Abigail wears red gloves. I presumed that the significance of this was "the blood on her hands" ¦ but the problem is Abigail doesn't care about the blood she has spilt. She is doing this quite intentionally with the sinister motive of winning John Proctor. It would have been better suited to have the innocent Mary Warren wear the gloves since she is visibly aware of the "blood on her hands."
The lighting also had good moments and bad. At several times the cast is in the dark (unintentionally) and when large groups are on stage many are in dim light. Thanks to a lighted backdrop there was an effective "silhouette" at the end of the play but I would have enjoyed seeing more of these moments during the course of the show. I also would have enjoyed less talking "upstage" - I wanted to feel more connected to the people we were supposed to care about but many times these people were saying their most engaging moments too far upstage or with their backs to us.
As said, the acting is good and the show runs at a good pace for a drama which could become quite boring if it goes too slow. The costumes were fitting for the period although there were some costume decisions which I thought were odd choices (the aforementioned red gloves as well as a few other pieces). Do these issues detract the audience from their enjoyment of the show' Maybe. Maybe not. At least one person found these choices strange.
If you are in the mood for a timeless drama with good acting and an interesting story visit The Shawnee Playhouse for their production of "The Crucible" which Friday, April 3, 2015 at 2 PM and Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 8 PM. For tickets call 570-421-5093 or visit www.theshawneeplayhouse.com.