On Saturday, September 28, I had the pleasure of going to see Kent State Center of Performing Arts’s (CPA) production of “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.
For those who may not be familiar with the play, the story is about the Salem Witch trials some 400 years ago, where members of the Salem community began to point fingers at others, accusing them of witchcraft. The play was written in 1953 to use as an allegory for the Red Scare that was taking place in the United States.
I had read the play during my time in high school, as well as watching the movie, but I had never seen a live performance of the play before, so this was a first for me.
The play took place in the Wright-Curtis Theatre (pictured above), which is a pit-styled theatre where members of the audience surround the performers on all sides. This type of theatre is meant to be more immersive as a viewer, and allows for a unique viewing experience since you may have members either face toward or away from you at any given moment.
Moving on to the actual performance; I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the show. I felt like I was in Salem with the performers, watching them accuse each other of performing acts of witchcraft. While the size of the pit was small, the performers utilized the space very creatively, even having members run up and down the stairs of the theatre during the trial scene.
Some notable performers I noted during the show include:
- Sawyer Swick – John Proctor
- Taylor Cope – Reverend John Hale
- Srikar Bellana – Deputy Governor Danforth
- Ellie Stark – Abigail Williams
- Lucia Lazzara-Goodrich – Mary Warren
- Brian Boland – Reverend Samuel Parris
I also thought both the performers of Giles Corey (Dylan Schmidt) and the drunk guard (Robert Rudavetz) both did a wonderful job serving as the comedic relief characters of the play.
The props and set decoration of the play were also really well done. I thought having Betty Parris (Annabelle Price) being right in the middle of the pit really draws attention to the idea of the first act that she is the center of attention and helps kick off the train of accusations that will follow the play.
Overall, the CPA did a superior job putting on “The Crucible”, and I will be looking forward to their upcoming musical “Pride & Prejudice – The Musical”.