In a land full of crooked ministers and dancing girls, there are witches afoot, and someone will have to hang for it.
The Crucible was a production focused on the creation of characters.
“I wanted there to be multiple facets to the characters for them to be very complex and different from what you expect from a high school, and I got that. I had multiple people tear up. When people are killed, most people don’t care because people die all the time. And we can’t put our whole heart and soul into those people. We are only moved when people die when they care about them. And when people tell me that they cried, it means my actors did a great job being people because they created real people that they connected with,” Ms. Amy Hayes, director, said.
The directors worked towards bringing life to words on paper, and both were committed to organizing similar ideas.
“I wanted to bring The Crucible to life in an authentic and educational way. I wanted to portray to the audience that though there are many morally gray characters in the story, no one person is the villain or the hero. Every character has their own internal struggle. Whether it was coaxing more from an actor or choosing colors and fabrics that fit their story, I feel those choices conveyed the messages we were trying to send,” Ms. Becca Van Es, co-director, said.
The actors have to choose their approach to adding depth to keep the story interesting.
“I think a perfect showing for me would be if it attacked everybody emotionally and everybody felt the same emotionally. I do not believe the show differed much from my expectations. Everybody came out crying or saying that they did not like John Proctor or they felt bad for him,” sophomore Sammie Johnson, who played John Proctor, said.
Sophomore Eusevio Serbellon, who played Willard, focused on his character development throughout the play and whether it would convey a message.
“For my character, I kind of wanted to show him as a stubborn person, but he has a change of heart. I feel like if this were to be interpreted in a different play, the character might be portrayed as narcissism,” Serbellon said.
Tech members provided the dark and desolate environment.
“This show was different because there was a lot less lighting on the stage and more on the set itself. The only time light shined on the entire stage was when bows occurred, which isn’t a part of the show. Compared to Alice and Grease, it was a lot darker, and we were able to capture a darker mood better,” sophomore Aidan King, who worked with lights, said.
Mr. Scott Young, auditorium director, worked after school to create the set just for the love of the craft.
“I just wanted something that was going to be a little oppressive to reflect the Puritan society. It came from talks with Hayes and a little bit of research, and we decided that we didn’t want to make it look like a movie where it looked like a 17th Century village. We wanted it to be a little more artsy fartsy. We wanted something that was going to represent the feeling of the play and not be just a setting of the play,” Mr. Young said.
But even with all the preparation, there were times on stage when actors went off script.
“During the final scene, I had a lot of trouble remembering the order of lines when Danforth was trying to get Proctor’s confession. And even though I messed up my lines, Adam Soboleski would fill in the lines that I missed. Although I missed a line, he would continue his lines from what I missed, and I was able to say both of my lines at the same time,” Johnson said.
Woodmen theater is looking to liven the mood with their next spring musical, Mamma Mia!.
“The Spring Musical will be about as different from The Crucible as you can get. You can expect sequins, disco dancing, and lots of fun,” Ms. Van Es said.
