The Crucible

Abstract

Descending into the depths of Queens College's Rathaus Hall and having to traverse a long hallway to get to its small theater seemed only fitting for a production of The Crucible that would transport me to another world—and yet, both eerily and most likely intentionally, it is a world that is, surprisingly, not much different from our own.The audience's chairs in the black box theater created a semicircle that surrounded and was level with the stage area—from my front-row seat I found myself in close proximity with many of the actors when they took advantage of their full performance space. The setup of the stage area for act 1 was quite stark. On entering the theater, the eye was drawn immediately to the small bed where Betty Parris, played by freshman Charlene Meganauth, slept. Behind her was a wall with just a window and door that would be utilized in all subsequent acts. The minimalism and modernity of the set and props and the subtlety of detail in small things—such as the items on the Proctors' kitchen table, the inquisitors' laptops, and Mary Warren keeping the poppet that would incriminate Elizabeth Proctor in a drawstring bag—reinforced director Paul DeFilippo's clear vision of the play.This college production—whose entire cast, production crew, and director were all students—was set not in Salem 1692 but in 2020, and all of the characters' clothing reflected this, with modern dresses, shirts, and suits; Mary Warren even has a backpack. The production clearly aimed to drive home the point that The Crucible and the events of the Salem Witch Trials maintain relevance in our contemporary world. The scene that most effectively conveyed this was the forest scene between Abigail Williams and John Proctor that Miller added at the end of act 2 after the play's premiere. In this Queens College version, Abigail and John sat at opposite ends of a table and actually FaceTimed each other, a clever contemporary alternative to what was originally intended to be an in-person and secret conversation.The production featured student actors of all skill levels and ages, but it was some of the younger and (according to the short bios in the Playbill) less experienced performers who struck me the most. The incredible interpretation of Abigail Williams by freshman Soraya Mahieddine absolutely chilled me. Her malice did not seem to be that of a young woman scorned by an older man whom she loved—as she can be played. The glint of insanity in her eye and her wily disposition told another story—that of a girl driven over the edge by a society that had been hell-bent on keeping young girls silent and compliant. Mahieddine's performance gave the impression that this madness was present far before she became drunk with the power that her accusations afforded her.The best performance in the show, though closely followed by others, was undoubtedly David Arroyo's interpretation of Deputy-Governor Danforth. He gave the impression of a professional actor with the carefully measured delivery of his lines. While other characters rushed through the dialogue, Arroyo was slow and deliberate, spitting venom in every word and using power when he felt that power must be used. I expected a bit more, though, from the character of John Proctor, played by theater major Kuan Hao Huang. His performance was rife with vigor, but the effect was minimized when he stumbled on and swallowed several of his lines. The weight of Proctor's struggle as he grapples with the implications of what he must do to clear his own name was sadly lost in this portrayal.However, Huang's performance was elevated by other powerful actors, especially those depicting Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren. Maria Stathopoulos, a senior studying political science at Queens, gave a haunting performance as Mary Warren. Short in stature, she could have easily been engulfed by the strength of the other characters around her—yet her giant display of Mary's inner turmoil and external torment by the other girls was impossible to ignore. Elizabeth Proctor, played by Michelle Osojnak, was the picture of a woman closed off to a husband she loved but who had been unfaithful to her. Her body language displayed a powerful internal struggle and her diction revealed her wavering emotions between condemning and forgiving him.The modern relevance of the hysteria of the witch hunt was very dramatic during the court scenes. The actors barred off the front rows with wooden racks to make us feel as if we were full witnesses, or even part of a silent but observant contemporary jury that was duly responsible for judging this kind of social hysteria that apparently spans centuries. All in all, I was deeply satisfied that my first live performance of The Crucible drew me so fully into the world of Salem.