"It's not the first time that I have run up against Arthur Miller's anti-McCarthyite allegory The Crucible. Some eight years ago, the school I attended staged a highly ambitious production of it with its most mature students, and I was fortunate enough to play the role of 'weighty judge' Deputy Governor Danforth. Eight years on and I have been amazed to discover how much of this play had etched itself on my memory and how readily I slipped back into the mindset of seventeenth century Puritan Colonial America.
The current production, which is being staged by the Aberystwyth Arts Centre Community Theatre under the direction of Richard Cheshire, is a scaled-down version, melding stage text and screenplay without sacrificing any of the power or the key detail of Miller's original script. The tale of the village of Salem which finds itself drawn into mass hysteria when Abigail Williams, to avoid a beating for engaging in forbidden dancing in the woods, cries witchcraft on certain people and precipitates a lengthy process of trials, false confessions and hangings, is as raw, harrowing and richly satisfying to watch now as it was fifty years ago, and Cheshire's singular directorial style has been fascinating to work with once again. This is a man with an amazing eye for detail when it comes to on-stage action and also in response to design.
The rehearsal process has been gruelling, but, as I write this some forty-eight hours before we open (now there's a sobering thought for an actor!), I believe will have been worth it. I for one, playing the minister of Salem village, have discovered all manner of depths to this catty, neurotic but not unentertaining man, thanks to the support not only of the script, but the direction offered and the marvellous wall of other characters that we all bounce off.
The cast is made up of some sordidly good talent from both student and local communities. Drama students Jayne Fitzmaurice (Abigail Williams), Netsai Dandajena (Tituba), Fabio Valenti (John Proctor), Aidan Crowe (Rev. Hale), Jen Aucock (Susanna Walcott) and Rob Farrington (Marshall Herrick and Assistant Director) have ended what has, for all of them, be they second or third year, a very busy academic session with outstanding commitment, talent and dedication in what is not an easy play to stage, but which is, in word, movement and image, a deeply moving, highly enjoyable show. Added to which we have community members such as David Blumfield (Deputy-Governor Danforth), John Gilbey (Judge Hathorne), Viv Morgan (Rebecca Nurse) John Corfield (Francis Nurse), Ioan Guile (Giles Corey), Margaret Baker (Martha Corey), Julie McNicholl (Elizabeth Proctor), Theresa Jones (Ann Putnam), Matt Fullwood (Thomas Putnam), Sophia Hewson (Betty Parris), Rachel Crane (Mercy Lewis), Laisa Lloyd-Presland (Joanna Preston) and John Edwards (Ezekiel Cheever). Most of these are very familiar faces on the Theatr y Werin stage and those who regularly attend community shows there will know their formidable collective reputation for high-quality work.
And so, the beginning of the end is nigh - the prospect of an opening curtain does give pause for thought when you think how far we've come. I attended an evening audition what seems like an age ago, and waited what seemed like an age then to find out if or who I was playing. Rehearsals naturally followed, during which a story which many of us were familiar with was read anew, with a fresh gloss of emotion. I am conscious of the fact that this piece is due to be published ahead of opening night, so I don't wish to give too much away. Suffice it to say that when, as I hope you do, you buy a ticket and come to watch, you will see faces you associate with laughter shock and move you with their capacity to handle tragedy, you will find humour where you never thought you would, you will see a complete spectrum of human thought, feeling and motivation played out before you in a whirlwind manner and you will see it all played out on a magnificent set with beautiful lighting and even the odd fabulous costume thrown in for good measure.
Reading back what I have just written, I realise it screams 'advert', and of course it is. But, in all genuine spirit, this is a show like no other. It has demanded bravery, resilience, lightness of touch and heaviness of thought, but it is a spectacle worth viewing, and lucky for you, you have three separate chances to let me prove true what I have said!"
Article by Paddy Cooper
