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Rosen traces era's hysteria

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, there are no witches, no flying broomsticks or bubbling cauldrons, none of the markings of black magic that we have come to expect from the centuries of lore that support the existence of witchcraft. Part of what has earned the play its cultural status is the meaning Miller reaches in the very absence of these telltale signs of sorcery. The true horror lies in the chain of events in 1690s' Salem that led to the persecution of hundreds of men and women on grounds of suspicion, intolerance and personal animosity. Perhaps, however, there is even a greater horror to be found lurking in the text.

Marc Rosen's thesis production of The Crucible reveals this horror in our willingness – as members of a modern American society – to view our history as an isolated phenomenon. Rosen's historical and psychological analysis of the events of the Salem trials and the lives of those involved not only justifies the belief in witchcraft at the time, but reveals this belief as a single link in a chain of historical hysteria that continues to plague the world. Rosen roots out Arthur Miller's belief that "we are all children of a history which still sucks at the devil's teats."

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Rosen sets The Crucible into motion with the addition of a scene based on ideas Miller presents in an introduction to the work. The playwright emphasizes that the suspicion of witchcraft in the small village did not arise out of thin air, but was instead the culmination of a dissension in the theocracy of Salem that had been boiling beneath the surface for a decade.

Behind the bare clapboard stage, an enormous scrim wallpapers the space of the theater from ceiling to floor. In a series of voice-overs, the cast provides the audience with a mini-lecture on millennialism, "the belief that the world will come to end at the completion of the current 1,000 year period." To further this idea of hysteria as a historical norm, the actors emerge from the audience dressed in modern clothes. As they gravitate towards their places in time to the heavy bars of a Christian hymn, they don pieces of period attire that jarringly contrast the modern garb.

The opening scene is staged as a juxtaposition between a church meeting house and the bedroom of young Betty Parris and emphasizes both the power of the church and the rapture of the girls as preexisting forces in the village. Separated from the audience by the scrim, Reverend Parris (Jake Ruddiman '00) delivers a fiery sermon that competes with the swelling music. Beside him, Tituba (Simone Zamore '99), his Caribbean servant, leads the girls in a ritualistic dance. Like puppets, the girls' arms jerk and heads loll from side to side in an eerily hypnotic and perfectly executed synchronization. In the pews around them, the rest of the village seems unaware.

The effect of this scene as an overture to the text creates a necessary, brewing sense of panic. This sense of panic struggles to carry over into the second scene (the first scene in Miller's text) as the action on stage drops a level of intensity.

The production soon regains this loss of energy with the girls' fervent outbursts that they have seen a number of women in the village carousing with the devil. Immediately following their cries, the play lapses into the first in a series of commentaries that focus on the societal forces and psychological conditions that factor into hysteric and millennialistic beliefs.

A modern day TV reporter played by the same actor who doubles as the court reporter for the witchcraft trials (Adam Friedman '01) interviews a doctor (Dan Cryer '98, also Reverend Hale) who provides an analysis of hysteria based on Freud's work that links sexuality, particularly female sexuality, with the search for individuality. As the play progresses, these broadcasts expand to include modern examples of hysteria-linked incidents ranging from the religious cult of Heaven's Gate worshippers to the influence of talk shows who spread these beliefs on a national level.

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At other points in the production, Rosen projects readings from Professor Elaine Showalter's Hystories in the form of lectures by Professor Teofilo Ruiz on to the scrim. The textual additions are unobtrusive, well-timed, plainly worded and, most importantly, readily applicable to the play itself. They effectively bring The Crucible to an entirely new level for the audience, broadening its impact to an overall theme in history's course.

From the first broadcast, the production intensifies and each scene lends itself to new significance. Cryer breezes onstage with a confident, refined presence that singlehandedly picks up the pace of the first act. As the bookish young reverend schooled in the science of rooting out witches, he is thorough and intelligent. In the second act, Cryer further proves his ability by handling the difficult transition from religious zealot to reformed humanist.

The exceptional Jay Erickson '98 brings a sense of affability to John Proctor. His treatment of the delicate situation between his wife Elizabeth (Jennie Snyder '99) and his young lover, Abigail Parris (Kate MacKenzie '00), reads as genuine sincerity rather than as an example of pride and arrogance. Erickson consumes the stage with physical authority and simultaneously humanizes his character as a husband and a sinner unable to let go of his moral failings.

One of the most memorable and beautifully acted exchanges in the play occurs between Proctor and Abigail before the trial in a scene not normally included in productions of the play. The former lovers meet in the woods where Proctor pleads with Abigail to rescind her accusations so he can live in marital peace. Erickson teeters between authority and emotion while MacKenzie earns the audience's pity and understanding with her deranged confession of love.

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The addition of this scene marks another interesting directorial choice as it serves to humanize the girls and reveal that they may believe that they are actually doing "Gods work." In a later scene, Mary Warren (skillfully portrayed by Jessie Carry) attempts to undermine the girls and dispel her former "pretense." The remaining girls claim to see Mary in the form of a threatening bird. Here Rosen opts for both light and sound cues that make the apparition appear real, if only in the minds of the young accusers.

Other outstanding performances push the production over the top. As Governor Danforth, Rush Howell '99 proves himself one of the most naturalistic actors on the Princeton stage. His every action is justified by thoughtful motivation. Paul Varjan '98 depicts the elderly Giles Corey both hysterically and heart-wrenchingly. Varjan masterfully covers a wide range of emotion throughout the play's progression. Also the show's choreographer, Zamore adds life to every scene she is in with a humorous flair and a flawless Caribbean accent.

In terms of overall presentation and the individual work put in by each member of the cast, The Crucible is well-acted, flawlessly presented and, most importantly, thoroughly entertaining. As a production that works not only to present the given text but to analyze its relevance to the greater realm of history, The Crucible is one of the best productions seen on the Princeton campus in the past several years.

'The Crucible' will be performed tonight, tomorrow and Saturday, 8 p.m. at 185 Nassau. Call X3676 for tickets.