‘the crucible’ — review
i’ve always been a big fan of arthur miller’s “the crucible”. some say it’s over played, becoming a theatre cliché, but i think the show has a lot to offer to modern audiences. when well cast and directed, “the crucible” is a gripping drama with tragic overtones.
the story, set in the early 1600s, is a true tale of witch hunts in salem, massachusetts, the heart of puritan american society. when a group of girls are caught dancing naked in the forest, the town is gripped in mass hysteria. the resulting pandemonium ends in half the town being accused of witchcraft and hanged with no possible way of proving their innocence.
“the crucible” was produced by the queensland theatre company and directed by famous australian playwright michael gow. while i saw a lot that i liked in this production, overall it lacked essential energy and committment. the show didn’t have the polish to make it a stand out performance.
the biggest fault was the casting of andrew buchanan as john proctor and franscesca savige as abigale williams. these two crucial characters are pivotal to the play’s success and both actors, frankly, were flat. buchanan, particularly, gave a performance that was without variety and lacked the emotional range to be convincing. savige’s approach, too, was below par. as a character who single-handedly destroys a community, the part of abigale, a flirtatious and vindictive vixen, demands enormous skill and nuance which appeared to be outside savige’s range.
the most dismaying part of watching these two act was their scene together. abigale’s lust for john should produce chemistry and enormous sexual tension. however there was nothing between the actors to show the history of their relationship and the physical connection that they once had. a lot should be visible between the lines when proctor and abigale are in close proximity.
the other cast members did a fantastic job in their respective parts. most memorable was james stuart as the charismatic reverend hale. stuart’s performance was particularly strong and he held up his scenes well. i also quite liked paul bishop’s interpretation of reverend parris. despite overplaying the character, parris came across as sniveling, nervous and pathetic. it was a good contrast to hale’s fire and brimstone.
the set design for “the crucible” was also excellent. the minimalist set was backdropped by large tree trunks. a staircase down through the stage floor brought a nice realism to the scenes played in the attic and jail dungeons. gow, however, seemed to struggle with how to use his large, set; the trees went virtually unused while blocking wast stilted and lacked polish. on a number of occasions actors were left standing with their backs to the audience and the actors constantly blocked each other from the audience’s view.
things got worse when it came to costuming and props. the wardrobe appeared to be a hodgepodge of clothes picked randomly (proctor wore a sheepskin jacket and jeans, while the women wore more traditional ‘pilgrim style’ dresses). the props too annoyed me. hale’s case of books clearly looked brand new and reinforced the lack of attention to detal and polish visible throughout the performance.
however, the worst possible part of the show was the superficial gloss over during one of the play’s most important scenes. proctor’s wife, given the opportunity to reveal abigale’s true nature, lies to the court in order to save her husband’s reputation. this single, pivotal moment is the true tragedy of “the crucible”, but it was lost in a hurried scene.
all of the faults in this production don’t reflect badly on the show itself. in fact, the characters played the humour and suspense well. the overall effect was good. “the crucible” was enjoyable and a solid production. honestly, the standard is below queensland theatre company’s usual high quality, but “the crucible” is no easy play to produce and those involved did a commendable job.
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