Written by Laura Livingston and Srimaye Samudrala

Aragon Drama presented this year’s spring play, The Crucible, from March 21 to 24.

The Crucible is a play based on the haunting Salem witch trials of the late 1600s that includes themes of McCarthyism, written in 1953 by playwright Arthur Miller.

This play differs from previous ones in part because of its somber mood and intensity.

“This play is unique to those we’ve done in the recent past because it maintains such a serious tone throughout the entire show,” said junior Sydney Rose, a lighting technician. “It’s very mentally taxing for the actors to spend [more than two hours] with such a serious, dark mood.”

Unlike the fall musical, “Sweeney Todd,” “The Crucible” is not a musical and relies only on dialogue and staging in order to communicate its message.

“With Sweeney Todd, there’s a lot of timing things, where you have to match up with the orchestra and get the rhythm down and memorize these lyrics — which is a lot easier than memorizing regular lines on a page,” said sophomore Claire Freeman, who acted in both shows. “So, in a show with absolutely no singing — actually, a little bit — It’s a completely different experience that requires different acting.”

Many actors acted outside their comfort zone by playing intense roles.

“[In the play,] most of the Coven has to freak out and yell and scream, and I’ve never really done that in front of a crowd before,” said junior Clariss Bolanos. “But after a lot of practice, along with the adrenaline rush I get from doing, [it’s] one of my favorite scenes to do.”

Cast members used personal experiences to evoke their characters.

“[In order to play Reverend Hale,] I got to wind myself up and draw from personal experiences … things that I’ve done wrong in the past, and sort of hold that guilt into the character. It hurts, but it looks good on stage,” said junior Preston Schoenherr.

Drama teacher Shane Smuin oversaw the production from beginning to end, helping all the student actors fine-tune their performances and bringing in light technicians, set designers and a dance instructor as resources for the perfect final product “The Crucible” is his 17th production with Aragon Drama.

“The thing that I’m most proud of is that all of the performing arts are moving towards diversity, gender-nonspecific or gender bending,” Smuin said. “That a person of whatever ethnic background can play any role. My Mary Warren[‘s] ancestry is Korean. I didn’t care [because] she was good for the part … [An actor’s ethnicity] makes no difference to me. In fact, I love the diversity of faces on the stage.”

Crucible’s two leads, John Proctor and Abigail Williams, are played by senior AJ Vasquez Jr. and junior Kyra Knibbs, respectively.

“[John Proctor] is just your average puritanical farmer,” Vasquez Jr. said, “who made the big mistake of committing adultery.”

When asked about his experience acting at Aragon, Vasquez Jr. said, “I enjoy performing because the people are so fun to be around and the feeling of being on the stage in front of an audience is really scary so it’s great.”

Audience members were also interested in the theme and background of the play.

“I think this play is special because it has such a dark theme that was well acted by the cast who knew when to yell and scream and when to be creepy,” said junior Zoe Thompson. “It is based on real events but is actually supposed to display the [Red] Scare, which is just really complicated and interesting to me.”

“The best part of the play is the fact that I was able to get a lot closer to the cast and crew, as they are truly wonderful people,” Knibbs said. “However, rehearsing this play over and over does give somewhat of a mental toll on you, because how serious and intense this play is. That doesn’t stop me from loving it though.”

PROFILES

Claire Freeman, Sophomore.

• What’s the name of the person you’re playing, and what is she like? — I play Mercy Louis; she’s the main girl in the Coven, [and] Abigail Williams’ best friend. She’s sly, and ironically quite merciless, and she’s afraid of getting killed in the Salem witch trials.

• If you could ask Mercy any question, what would it be? — What compelled you to get naked in the woods?

• What do you think your character’s favorite color is? — Black — I think that’s a solid answer for a character in the Crucible.

• Who do you think Mercy’s favorite character in the show is, besides herself?  — Probably Abigail Williams. They’re best friends, they run away together, and Abigail’s mean — just like Mercy!

• What’s your favorite part about getting to play Mercy? — My favorite part is being a part of the Coven — because not only is it fun being part of a play with a lot of people, but when you’re in a group inside of a group, with all of the other girls who have committed this horrible crime and are now lying to everyone, gives you a sense of … “Wow, we are all so mean.” It’s so much fun.

Kyra Knibbs, Junior. Abigail williams

• Are you similar to your character – why or why not? —I am definitely not similar to my character, considering she is a very evil and manipulative little one. I would say the only person that brought that side out of me was my sister.

• What is the craziest thing about your character? — I would say the craziest thing about my character would be the fact that she thoroughly enjoys biting the heads off of chickens and drinking their blood … that’s just weird. In all seriousness though, she definitely has a very insane personality all because of her crazy messed up past.

• Do you want to pursue a career in acting? — I would love to pursue a career in acting, as it is my passion. I think that being on stage and giving my all is what truly brings joy to my days, as I always look forward to it.

• What is the best and worst part of the play? — The best part of the play is the fact that I was able to get a lot closer to the cast and crew, as they are truly wonderful people. However, rehearsing this play over and over does [take] somewhat of a mental toll on you, because of how serious and intense this play is. That doesn’t stop me from loving it though.

Ariana Grace, Senior.  

• Who is your character in the musical? —My character in the play was Elizabeth Proctor. She is the wife of John Proctor.

• If your character had to be a student at Aragon – what type of student would they be? — If Elizabeth was a student at Aragon, she would be very rigid, a rule follower. She would be very passive aggressive, but very productive, probably a 4.0 plus student.

• What was the easiest and hardest thing to do when playing your character? — The easiest part of playing Elizabeth was finding her voice and physicality — She moves slower and her voice is sharper. However the harder part was learning how to be cold and not as sassy. I’m a very sassy person when I get upset, so playing someone cold was a really big challenge for me.

• What do you do if your nervous before performing? — I always get very nervous before shows, which is very natural. I think nerves are good for a performance, but I try to calm my nerves with warm ups, and I do some preparation to get into character before the show like listening to music and such.