Reviews 2001
Reviews 2001
✭✭✭✭✩
by Arthur Miller, directed by John Cooper
Theatre Aquarius, du Maurier Ltd. Centre, Hamilton
September 21-October 6, 2001
"The Crucible More Relevant Than Ever"
Max Reimer, Artistic Director or Theatre Aquarius, couldn't have known just how relevant "The Crucible" would be when long ago he programmed it to open on September 21. Arthur Miller's tragedy set at the time of the Salem witch trials in 1692 has always been relevant in a general sense in its examination of how fragile civil liberties can be in an atmosphere of fear. But the terrorist attacks in the US just the previous week gave the play an unlooked-for immediacy and sense of warning. When Graham Harley as Deputy Governor Danforth says of the trials that "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it", an audible shudder coursed through the audience, the words seeming to echo to George Bush, Jr.'s words of just the day before, "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists".
Inspired by the contemporary "witch hunts" for communists under Senator Joseph McCarthy, "The Crucible" shows how an inflexible belief in absolute right destroys rather than upholds the rule of law. In an atmosphere where the accuser is not doubted and the accused has no defence other than to confess to untruths, the justice system becomes a tool for people to get revenge for their grievances. This is particularly the case after the Proctors turn a serving girl Abigail Williams out of the house because John Proctor has had sexual relations with her during Elizabeth Proctor's long illness. To save themselves from punishment after they have been discovered dancing naked in the woods, a group of girls, Abigail chief among them, shunts the blame from herself to "witches" in the community. Still in love with John Proctor, she accuses Elizabeth to have John to herself. When evidence is brought forward that the girls' sightings of the devil and sensing of witches is all a fraud, Abigail and the Proctors' maid Mary Warren widen their accusations to include Proctor himself and others in an ploy to avoid even greater punishment. As Proctor exclaims, "[C]ommon vengeance writes the law!" Miller's step by step detailing of how a community become prey to fear and how this gives rise to absolutism becomes a particularly pointed warning in the wake of real terror so recently unleashed.
Director John Cooper's fine production makes an already powerful text absolutely gripping. Douglas Paraschuk's design itself is brilliant. We see a raked stage with two movable side screen for walls, closing in for the final prison scene, with a stand of twisted metal trees like ghosts in the background. Dominating everything are a set of wooden beams raised or lowered as the scene demands. Under Ereca Hassell's highly effective lighting they seem not protective as a ceiling should be but menacing, threatening to crush those beneath them.
Cooper's taut, clear direction and perfect sense of pace create an unrelenting build-up of tension. His firm hand compensates for the few weaknesses among the otherwise excellent 19-member cast. Among the strongest performances is Jack Langedijk as John Proctor. His Proctor is a rough-hewn, decent man who sees the material goals behind any mystical talk whether it be Reverend Parris's or of the girls who see spirits. He makes the final scene of the play when he must choose between confessing to a lie to save the life he loves or dying to save his good name wrenching emotional power.
Langedijk is well matched by his two main antagonists, Glen Gaston (Reverend Parris) and Graham Harley (Deputy Governor Danforth). Gaston's character traverses a contrary arc to Proctor from prudish high-mindedness to guilt and despair at the human cost of the inquisition he has supported. Harley is superb as the main inquisitor in Salem. Harley's characterization is all the more chilling for the coolness and control he gives Danforth, who until very near the end allows nothing to shake the circular logic of his absolutist beliefs. Erin MacKinnon is perfectly cast in the pivotal role of Mary Warren, torn between knowing of her friends' fakery and fear of being accused herself if she betrays them. The moment when she joins her wailing peers to condemn her own employer and his wife is as shocking as it is believable.
Among the other players in principal roles there are some difficulties. Deborah Pollitt, whose character begins the accusation is Act 1, gives Abigail far too much the insolent manner of a modern teenager to suit the 17th-century setting. Her wan voice and offhand manner only seem right in Act 3 when she becomes the girls' chief seer of visions. Jeffrey Renn plays the outsider, Reverend John Hale, who first sides with Parris and the inquisition, but who finally believes Proctor, sees through the fraud and defies Danforth. Renn communicates all the right emotions, but unclear diction deprives his statements and character of the force they ought to have. The exaggerated gestures and poses Linda Prystawska gives Elizabeth Proctor don't make sense for a woman of her time and place and give no indication that she has just recovered from a long illness. Worse, she doesn't suggest a sufficient underlying warmth for Proctor even when he finally has to choose between life and death.
There are many stand-outs in minor roles. Jill Frappier so radically distinguishes the upright, middle-aged Ann Putnam from the dissolute, elderly Sarah Good it's a surprise to find them played by the same person. Carolyn Hetherington makes the commonsensical Rebecca Nurse a pillar of sanity and strength. Don McManus provides a vivid portrait of the litigious Giles Gorey, the sole comic voice in the play. Ordena Stephens likewise gives Tituba, the Parris's Barbadian slave, integrity by making her character so vital and her belief in the spirit world so real. All three girls in Abigail's company--Sarah Babb (Susanna Walcott), Vivien Endicott-Douglas (Betty Parris) and Jill Morrison (Mercy Lewis)--are frighteningly good especially in their concerted fits of hysteria in Act 3.
"The Crucible" has been recognized as one of the masterpieces of American drama from 1953 when it first appeared up to the present day. Now when we have to confront terror of another sort and contemplate what civil liberties may be lost in fighting it, Miller's play seems more relevant than ever. Such a fine production as this, especially now, should not be missed.
©Christopher Hoile
Photo: Jack Langedijk. ©2010 Georgetown Vault.
2001-09-27
The Crucible