Presented at All Souls Parish, November, 2008

The Crucible is one of the most brilliantly written plays of the modern stage. Revolving around the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, it takes on dual themes of guilt and the play between true good versus apparent good which, in fact, can mask deep evil. It explores the choices good people have to make when having to choose between life and death, personal beliefs and the collective, and eventually, the importance and meaning of honor.

Miller does this through the development of archetypal characters, sometimes lifted faithfully from the pages of history, and other times amalgamated from different characters fused into one, put forth as a representational voice of an individual sector of the community. Additionally, Miller devised a language, uniquely his own, but patterned in rhythm and grammar upon actual 17th century speech. Through the use of this speech, he heightened the inner psychological journey of the villagers and their relationship to each other. His images are full of references to the land and their religion, both crucial to their existence. Through this language, he points to the “pseudo-precise,” societally acceptable forms of indicating “evidence”; explanations that attest to reality through use of abstractions. In so doing, Arthur Miller highlights the failure of people to communicate with each other, setting up deliberate confusion in order to demonstrate skewered values.

Arthur Miller, in looking back upon what inspired him to write this play, states “It was not only the rise of McCarthyism that moved me, but something which seemed more weird and mysterious. It was the fact that a political, objective, knowledgeable campaign from the far Right was capable of creating not only a terror, but a new subjective reality, a veritable mystique which was gradually assuming even a holy resonance – For the first time since the Revolutionary War, people were being accused en masse of being un-American.” Directing this production of The Crucible is indeed a great honor for me. I have always been fascinated by this moment in history, lasting no more than a year, but one which tested man’s relationship to self, society and God in the deepest way, leaving its mark forever upon history.
– Hallie Frazer

Cast

Betty Parris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ariana Parry Moore
Rev. Samuel Parris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian Boyle
Tituba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marsha Thomas Cooke
Abigail Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erica E. Andracchio
Susanna Walcott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlotte Khuner
Mrs. Ann Putnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cathy Thompson
Thomas Putnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Fallon
Mercy Lewis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannah Cantor
Mary Warren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alice Erickson
John Proctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Moore
Rebecca Nurse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dolores Plumb
Giles Corey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald Schweter
Martha Corey / Villager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suzanne Siebert / Grace Wahlberg
Rev. John Hale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ket Watters
Elizabeth Proctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joyce Parry Moore
Francis Nurse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Erickson
Ezekiel Cheever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theodore Stenmark
Judge Hathorne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nick Falconio
Dep. Governor Danforth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Waldron
Sarah Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martha Luehrmann
Marshal Herrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harvey L. Smith
Master of the Choristers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Putnam

Crew

Lighting and Sound Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ron Dorfman
Lighting Systems Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roger Glassey
Running Crew Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harriett Haché
Rehearsal Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grace Wahlberg
Assistant Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Balderston
Costumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hallie Frazer
Props and Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harvey Smith, Harriett Haché, Suzanne Siebert, Julie Burcham, Hallie Frazer