The devil is crawling all over The Rogue Theatre stage.
He’s in the young girls who launch a hysteria about witches in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts.
He’s in the preacher who hides his lack of humanity behind his faux piety.
He’s in the falsely accused who then falsely accuse others.
He is central in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” The Rogue Theatre is bringing him to fierce life in its stellar production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
And while Miller set the story in the 17th century and wrote it in the early ’50s, this story resonates today, when lies pose as truth and truth struggles as it tries to get some footing.
Christopher Johnson deftly directs this large-cast production, which moves swiftly and with mounting tension.
The story is loosely based on the Salem witch trials, when a rumor went around that devils and witches had possessed residents. If accused, the only way to escape death was to admit it and name others who are also walking on the dark side. Miller wrote this in response to the second Red Scare that was sweeping across the country in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, when Senator Joseph McCarthy lead a hunt for communists in this country.
Matt Bowdren is powerful and poignant in his role of John Proctor, a farmer who had a sexual encounter with young Abigail, who was once a servant in his house. When his wife Elizabeth (a stern and sterling Holly Griffith) discovers it, she shows Abigail the door.
Months later, when Abigail (a frighteningly manipulative Bryn Booth) and a few other young girls are discovered dancing in the forest, a convenient excuse is they were possessed. And they begin to claim others are. Abigail, naturally, claims Elizabeth is — get rid of the wife and John Proctor can be hers.
In addition to the young girls who are the root of the hysteria, there are so many characters to dislike in this play:
- Rev. Parris, a sleaze who runs the church as though it is there to serve him. Christopher Younggren, who does sleaze particularly well, plays the character;
- Thomas Putnam, a self-righteous cad who stands ready to take over the land of the accused. Matt Walley was haughty and hateful in the role;
- Thomas’ wife, Ann Putnam, who is convinced that the babies she lost are due to the witchery of the woman who helped deliver them. Kathryn Kellner Brown made the character vivid and vicious.
There are also so many to like here:
- John Proctor, who sees through the lies and can’t believe others don’t;
- his wife, Elizabeth, with a cool exterior and a broken heart;
- and Rev. John Hale, a witch-hunter who sees the folly in what’s happening in Salem. Ryan Parker Knox made the weight the character carries while seeking the truth palpable.
This is a difficult play to do; it can come off as didactic, even tedious. This riveting production never crossed into those territories: it was always illuminating and terrifying. That was true of the actual witch trials, the Red Scare and the political landscape in our country today. It’s a play that should be seen.
