It’s the perfect setting for this staging of The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s literary classic of God and Satan twisted around the infamous Salem Witch trials. John McDonald’s masterful hand works it magic in creating a taunt, suspenseful rendering of the mindset and fear that permeated an American colony in those early days of North American settlement.

As the story opens, we learn through conversations of alleged “occult” and “bewitching” activity in the forest, activity that young girls of the village have taken part in. Activities of witchcraft. The audience learns that these girls, including Abigail and Betty, were engaged in occultist activities — dancing naked, flying, casting spells — in the forest, lead by Tituba (Michelle Dykes), Parris’ slave from Barbados.

Reverend John Hale (Michael Green)  is summoned to look upon the child and investigate the incident. He intensely questions Abigail who accuses Tituba as being a witch. Tituba, afraid of being hanged, confesses faith in God and accuses others of witchcraft. Before long the court has jailed fourteen people for witchcraft.

Intertwined within this series of events is a story of adultery and passion.

Maria Maloney is Abigail Williams, devious enough, harboring enough passion to be viewed as a sorceress. Maloney, a gifted addition to the Roxy, as evidenced by her prior appearances on this stage, evokes a raw passion, a volatility, that is magical to behold. As the story unfolds, she moves through emotions from fear to hope, from love to hate. She’s had an affair with John Proctor (Nathan Whitmer), another of the Roxy’s skilled cast. Over the course of the story, Proctor’s descent into despair is eloquent.

Jay Doolittle returns to the Roxy stage as Judge Danforth, the man with the power to render judgment on the witches. Doolittle is consistently impressive and in this production, he maintains his high standard of craft; the manner in which he moves his hands is as expressive as his face, punctuating his role in the story. Doolittle also edited this version of the play.

Children of the village

The cast includes Raven Peters (Reverend Parris), Ann Putnam (Anna Elyse Chambers), Tom Putnam (Phil Perry), Marry Warren (played on varied nights by Daynna Carmona, Hannah Carmona, Elizabeth Coleman, Kari Muller, and Amy Wyer), Ashton Crosby (Giles Corey), Linda Speir (Rebecca Nurse), Michael Green (Rev. Hale), Laura Frye (Elizabeth proctor), Adam Dietz (Francis Nurse), Brendan Cataldo (Ezekiel Cheever), and Carolyn Wickwire (Sarah Good). The girls from the village were played by Ally Campbell, Samantha Grimes, Julie Huffman, Rebekah Norfleet, Leanna Carmona, Eden Cohen and Francis Dennis.

A "child bewitched" in unnatural sleep

The Crucible is a play based on the actual events in 1692, that led to the Salem Witch Trials, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. The play was written in the McCarthy era (early 1950s) when the US government blacklisted accused communists, reacting in much the same way as the Puritans of this story. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956.

The play was first performed on Broadway on January 22, 1953. The reviews of the first production were hostile, but a year later a new production succeeded and the play became a classic. Today, because of its status as a revolutionary work of theatre and for its allegorical relationship to testimony given before the House Committee On Un-American Activities, it is studied in high schools and universities. The Crucible is one of those plays that are part of America’s performance library, and the Roxy production is an excellent rendering of Miller’s classic.

For ticket information, call the Roxy Theatre Box office at 931-645-7699. the box office at 100 Franklin Street is open from 9-12 Monday through Friday. You can also order tickets online at www.roxyregionaltheatre.org.

Mr. Hale at the bedside of bewitched child

]]> http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/11/07/roxy-the-crucible-bewitches-audience/feed/ 0 http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/10/22/roxy-to-stage-arthur-millers-the-crucible/ http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/10/22/roxy-to-stage-arthur-millers-the-crucible/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:00:33 +0000 News Staff http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/?p=10998 Arthur Miller’s The Crucible opens  Friday, October 24, at 8 p.m.; this is also our pay-what-you-can night for this production.  Please spread the word about this classic and compelling drama of paranoia and superstition, perfect for the fall season.

In 1692, in a small American town, a group of mischievous girls are caught dancing in the woods, while conjuring spirits. To escape punishment they accuse others of witchcraft. Husbands, wives, sons, daughters, neighbors and friends are forced to sentence the accused … or risk being accused themselves. This magnificent work continues to resonate and is as relevant today as when it was first produced.

The Roxy’s professional company for this production includes Brendan Cataldo (Jim Haller in All Shook Up, Big Harp in The Robber Bridegroom), Anne Elyse Chambers (Hunyak in Chicago, Soothsayer in Julius Ceasar), Jay Doolittle (Morrie Schwartz in Tuesdays with Morrie, Toby Veck in The Chimes), Michelle Dykes (The Little Foxes, Alice’s Daughter in Big River), Maria Maloney (Natalie in All Shook Up, Rosamund in The Robber Bridegroom), Raven Peters (Little Harp in The Robber Bridegroom), Linda Speir (Amelia Tilford in The Children’s Hour, Birdie in The Little Foxes), Nathan Whitmer (Clemment Musgrove in The Robber Bridegroom, Casca in Julius Ceasar), along with newcomers Ashton Crosby, Adam Dietz, Laura Frye, Michael Green, Phil Perry and Carolyn Wickwire.

The following young people will round out this stellar cast: Daynnah Carmona, Hannah Carmona, Elizabeth Coleman, Kari Muller, Amy Wyer, Ally Campbell, Samantha Grimes, Julia Huffman, Rebekah Norfleet, Leannah Carmona, Eden Cohen and Frances Dennis.

The Crucible runs through November 15, playing Wednesday and Thursday nights at 7pm and Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, November 1. Tickets are $15/adults and $10/children 13 and under.  Pay-what-you-can tickets go on sale this Friday evening at 7:30pm.

Banned Books Week:  Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week  of September each year.   Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Association of College Stores. The Library of Congress Center for the Book endorses it.

Many bookstores and libraries across the nation join in the celebration with displays and readings of books that have been banned or threatened throughout history.  These include works ranging from the Bible to John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.”Each year, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom receives hundreds of reports on books and other materials that were “challenged” (their removal from school or library shelves was requested). The ALA estimates the number represents only about a quarter of the actual challenges.  “Most Challenged” titles include the popular “Harry Potter” series of fantasy books for children by J.K. Rowling.  The series drew complaints from parents and others who believe the books promote witchcraft to children.

The challenges reported reflect a continuing concern with a wide variety of themes.   Other “Most Challenged” titles include “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, for its use of language, particularly references to race; “It’s Perfectly Normal,” a sex education book by Robie Harris, for being too explicit, especially for children; and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, for the description of rape she suffered as a child.

The date for Banned Books Week 2006 is September 23-September 30, 2006.

For more information, contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom at 800-545-2433, ext. 4223, or send e-mail to .