Lies, paranoia, fear and guilt — the University Theatre Department’s production of the classic play “The Crucible” promises all of these and more with its opening in the Hope Theatre@@http://tickets.uoregon.edu/event?v=Hope+Theatre@@ this week.
Based on the classic 1952 play and based loosely on historical events, Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”@@http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_CRU.htm@@ is set during the Salem Witch Trials and follows John Proctor, a farmer who tries to prove his wife’s innocence when she is accused of practicing witchcraft. Although it takes place in a Puritan society, many aspects of the play are meant to reflect similar feelings of fear and paranoia as they have reoccurred throughout history, like McCarthyism and the Red Scare.
“The story of ‘The Crucible’ is something that repeats itself in society all too often,” said sophomore Riley Shanahan,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Riley+Shanahan@@ who plays Proctor.
“There’s lots of paranoia in this show, being with imaginary things or actual things happening between the characters,” said freshman Chris Fuglestad,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Fuglestad@@ who plays Francis Nurse and Hopkins@@only 1 name@@ in the play.
Audience members can expect to see character relationships change throughout the story, which explores how friends and neighbors turn against each other, said senior Antonia Gomez,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Antonia+Gomez@@ who plays Elizabeth Proctor.
According to her, “The Crucible” explores “how this one idea that’s implanted grows so huge that you kind of forget those relationships … so that in the end you forget that those people started out being close friends.”
Another aspect of the play that adds to the feelings of betrayal or paranoia is the set. Surrounded by seating on three sides, the stage is encompassed by blue wooden panels, creating an intimate and close-quartered atmosphere for the audience and cast members alike.
“We’re all over the space, and I think people will become enveloped and hopefully become a part of it,” Shanahan said of the compact set-up.
The blue panels, envisioned by director Theresa May@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Theresa+May@@ and created by set designer Jerry Hooker@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Jerry+Hooker@@, are intentionally painted to resemble the trees of a forest and to later feel like the walls of a courtroom — but are left up to audience members to interpret.
This is one of the ways the play succeeds in creating a dark and mistrustful environment, according Gomez. “We’re playing a lot with lighting and sound and even costume, really, layers and levels,” she said. “You maybe think something is one thing and then you look a little closer and it’s not — it’s going to be kind of, you know, ‘maybe you see it, maybe you don’t,’ and it’s going to be a different experience for each audience member.”
Cast members hope that the setting helps to draw audience members into what the characters are experiencing.
“It’s the type of fright and the type of scare where people are not really knowing what to do,” Shanahan said of the atmosphere of the story and how he hopes the audience members react to the material.
“When you look back on it, it seems really ridiculous,” Gomez said of the accusations and suspicion that occurs in the story and how it parallels history. “But in the moment, fear is such a motivator. And when you get fear within a large group of people, including very powerful people, how dangerous that can be.”
“It’s really aimed towards anyone who wants to know about the history,” Fuglestad said of the story. “Just to kind of get a better sense of what actually happened and what is happening nowadays. How people can change words around to make you believe that it’s the truth.”
“The Crucible” runs March 8-11 and 15-17 in the Hope Theatre and is advertised as suitable for ages 12 and up. Student tickets are free with a University ID and can be purchased by community members for $14.