Monticello stages a riveting production of ‘The Crucible’

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — A community reels with terror at imagined subversion. People are arrested and tried without due process of law based solely on accusation and innuendo. These were the hallmarks of the legendary Salem witch trials of 1692 that become the setting for Arthur Miller’s drama, “The Crucible.” The play was written in 1952 as a response to a modern-day witch hunt, wrought by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s hearings of the House Committee of Un-American Activities and its attempts to root out communists and subversives purported to be plotting the overthrow of the nation. The play opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck theatre in 1953.

Miller’s riveting drama, which never seems to lose its relevance or resonance, came to life on December 15 and 16 at Monticello High School, as the production, directed by Jennifer Romano and produced by Dr. Kevin Dirth, once again put Monticello in the spotlight of the county’s finest high school productions.

Taking a break from such light-hearted fare as “Fame,” last fall’s selection, Romano chose the drama, which is required reading for all 11th-grade students. It is a great opportunity for interdisciplinary study, and a chance for young actors to really slip into the roles of some of modern drama’s most compelling characters.

Adam Feinburg as John Proctor led an impressive cast as the farmer who has strayed from the path by having an affair with young Abigail Williams (Autumn Eggleton), thereby weakening the trust of his beloved wife Elizabeth (Emily Billig).

A jealous Abigail, who has been up to other mischief, including attempts to conjure the Devil, seeks to divert blame for her misdeeds on others who “bewitched” her. She and other young women, including the Proctors’ servant Mary Warren (Rebecca Perlman), accuse others, including the virtuous Rebecca Nurse (Olivia Burton). All are jailed, some are hanged and others face a similar fate as hysteria rules Salem.

To save Elizabeth, who has been jailed, Proctor denounces Abigail in the court administered by Deputy Governor Danforth (Frank Segro) and Judge Hathorne (Max Katz), but Elizabeth fails to corroborate his confession as she seeks to protect his good name.

Proctor is sentenced to hang but is offered a chance to save his life by confessing and naming others. Proctor’s strong conscience and his desire to put an end to the cycle of accusation causes him to sacrifice his life in the name of truth.

Other fine performances were turned in by Jahde Barasch as Tituba, Dan Cunningham as the sensitive Reverend John Hale and Jared Goldstein as the unlikable Reverend Samuel Parris.

Authentic period costumes, actors who not only committed their weighty scripts to memory, but brought their characters to life, an efficient stage and lighting crew and impeccable direction led to a top-flight drama that served to remind some astute watchers that the dangers that Miller alluded to are still very much alive and well as people succumb to fear and accuse, imprison and punish others without due process.

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