World politics often incites controversies and suspicion. The way people in power carry themselves and the consequences of their actions have spurred many a debate.
But how much should we scrutinize and who has the right to condemn? This is how Arthur Miller parallels the Salem witch trials to our modern-day society in The Crucible, says director Pat Cronin.
ETSU’s theatre division will put on this Tony Award-winning play from Nov. 18 to 21.
The story begins with a seemingly innocent group of girls dancing in the forest. The local minister catches them in the middle of the objectionable act and one of the girls becomes deathly ill. Rumors of witchcraft begin haunting the town.
Complicating the ensuing turmoil is a revelation: a local farmer, father and husband, John Proctor, and the minister’s niece, Abigail Williams, have had an illicit liaison. Fear of witchcraft and the affair lead to the breakdown of the township.
Although events in the play are based on the 1692 proceedings in Salem, Mass., the play is said to be Miller’s answer to Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the House on Un-American Activities Committee’s crusade against alleged Communist sympathizers, which included Miller.
“This concept parallels today’s world with event such as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and the Patriot Act,” Cronin says. “Do we have the right to know everything and where does our right to know end?”
Proctor’s relationship with Williams – although long in the past – becomes a key factor in the action of the play. Rumors of misconduct and accusations of witchcraft stir the cauldron of chaos. “The issues in the play are as valid now as they were then,” says Rick McVey, a Bristol native who plays adulterer John Proctor.
These issues lead one to wonder, Cronin says, “How much liberty are we willing to lose for security? Did Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky have anything to do with the elections in our country, or did we just feel that we had the right to know his personal life completely? Wrong or not, was it our business?”
All audience members will get something different from the play, Cronin says. “Some will see it as strictly entertainment, some will see the historical parallel with our own day and some will see it as a statement of righteous indignation against oppression.”
Each audience member will determine the significance of the play according to his or her own values, Cronin says.
“I hope everyone goes away with the message that there are two sides to every story and there are no hard and fast rules in life,” says James Andes, a senior who plays Danforth, the judge with a megalomaniac sense of being right.
No matter the individual’s view of the issues, the powerful feelings and suspicions of the involved parties will hopefully leave an impression, McVey says.
“The play in all its different forms is an exhilarating drama,” he says. “The historical references and the paradoxes in The Crucible will forever be debateable,” Cronin says. “It is up to the audience to decide. That is what makes great drama.”
Performances will be held Nov. 18, 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. and Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. in the Bud Frank Theatre in ETSU’s Gilbreath Hall.
Tickets are $5 for students with a valid ID and $10 for all others. For reservation, please call 439-7576.