The Crucible 2007

The Crucible...Fauquier Community Theatre-Fall 2007

We performed Arthur Miller's The Crucible at FCT in Warrenton, VA...10/19-11/4/07.

Cast:

John Proctor...Brian M. Doyle

Elizabeth Proctor...McCall N. Doyle

Abigail Williams...Sally Fowler

Danforth...Justin Timpane

Parris...Bob Cohen

Giles Corey...Garth Porter

Mary Warren...Nichole Naccash

Tituba...Fabienne Gustave

Rebecca Nurse...Andrea Kough

Judge Hathorne...Blake Wood

Betty Parris...Mollie Rodgers

Martha Corey/Sarah Goode...Christina Clayton

Ezekiel Cheever...Brandon Dawson

Ann Putnam...Sherry Bendt

Mercy Lewis...Maggie Gorman

Susanna Walcott...Kati Kough

Willard...Zak Ellington

Mary Warren/US...Sarah Scheiner

Susanna Walcott/US...Joanna Dressel

Betty Parris/US...Hannah Abeel

Director: Amanda Cansler

Stage Manager: Evelyn Rice

Producer...Bryan Marsh

Our Review in the Fauquier Times Democrat

Buckle up for puritanical ride through sin and redemption
By: Connie Lyons, Fauquier Weekend Contributing Writer
10/18/2007
Just in time for Halloween, Fauquier Community Theatre is presenting an engrossing and energetic production of Arthur Miller's 1953 play, "The Crucible."

Grounded in the events surrounding the 1692 witch trials in Salem and written at the height of the "Red Scare" and McCarthy trials of alleged communists in the 1950s, the play uses the earlier incident to point a damning finger at the later event.

Like any important work of art, its themes are timeless ¨D intolerance, mass hysteria based on fear, the importance of reputation, fear of (and fascination with) sexuality, and the intrusiveness of government into private affairs.

As in classical tragedies, one small misstep by a basically virtuous, even noble man starts the ultimate spiral toward disaster. John Proctor, the play's moral center, 'sows the wind and reaps the whirlwind.' An essentially good and moral man, his one fall from grace in a single act of adultery sets in motion the inexorable tragedy, one that results in the deaths of 19 innocent people, including himself. His refusal to admit guilt, and thereby save his life, is rooted first in concern for his public reputation but evolves into a truly religious stand: he refuses to give up his personal integrity and dies on the gallows, redeemed for his earlier sin.

Brian Doyle, who plays Proctor, sees the play as essentially a love story. "John and Elizabeth's marriage has gone on the rocks. He can't forgive himself, and she can't forgive him," he accessed.
Doyle sees Proctor as an essentially torn character, right up to the end of the play. "He's like Thomas More in 'A Man for All Seasons' ¨D forced to chose between integrity and death," said Doyle. "In order to reach goodness, he has to throw away what could have been a happy life. He's always asking for answers. But in the end, he will not save his life by lying."

Doyle's performance conveys the character's essential solidity and decency, as well as his repressed capacity for passion.

Doyle's real-life wife, McCall Doyle, plays Proctor's wife, Elizabeth. "I've always played ingenue roles, so Elizabeth is a new experience for me," said the professional opera singer who has been associated with Washington Opera. "She's outwardly cold and bitter, but at heart she has a deep love for John and is terribly hurt by his betrayal. She's always felt that she doesn't deserve him and has kept quiet about her feelings for him. She's not the easiest person to like."

Elizabeth Proctor is a morally upright woman, respectable and dignified, yet with an air of superiority that renders her repressed and distant.

"She's always primarily concerned about her soul," McCall Doyle said. "She has a reputation for being absolutely truthful, but ultimately she lies to save her husband's life, and this becomes her salvation: she is finally able to love someone more than herself." Doyle is excellent as Elizabeth, conveying both the complexity and anguish of her character.

Sally Fowler plays Abigail Williams, the young girl who seduces Proctor and sets the tragedy in motion by accusing her neighbors of witchcraft. Fowler's character is the least complex of the major protagonists; she is basically amoral and motivated solely by self-interest and malice.

Nevertheless, Fowler creates an effective contrast between Abigail's assumed pliability and innocence and her inner core of steely malice, suddenly and frighteningly erupting with venom when she is thwarted.
"She starts the paranoia, then gets in over her head," said Fowler. "She has the town following her in a really terrifying way. She has evil tendencies and is driven by lust and ambition."

The Rev. John Hale, played by David Cansler, is perhaps the most complex character in the play. Hale is an eager intellectual, carting around armloads of books, and Cansler artfully conveys his air of superior knowledge.
At first, the galvanizing force behind the witch trials, he undergoes a conversion as he realizes that the girls are lying. His character is essentially pragmatic ¨D he insists that survival has the highest good and urges Proctor, an heroic idealist, to save his life by lying.

Miller, a towering figure in American drama, filled his play with fascinating, complex characters even in the smaller roles. Garth Porter is excellent as the cantankerous, litigious and ultimately triumphantly courageous Giles Corey. Equally good is Justin Timpane as Deputy Gov. Danforth. Andrea Kough is affecting in the small part of Rebecca Nurse.

"I played Abby when I was 16 and always knew that someday I wanted to direct this show," said Amanda Cansler, who here achieves her ambition. "Salem and the McCarthy trials affected people in similar ways. John Proctor is my favorite character. He makes one huge mistake and pays for it. Basically he says, 'What I have is my integrity, and you can't have that.' He stands up for his family and his beliefs. And Abby is fascinating. It's hard to believe that someone as young as she is could be so devious and evil. Even the minor characters are impressive and fascinating: Giles Corey, for instance, when he is being crushed to death by heavy stones, asks for 'more weight'."

Asked if she requested the cast to watch the 1996 movie of the play, Cansler said that she "told them to prepare by reading the script and form their own impressions of their characters. This cast is terrific; every one of them gave me goosebumps when they auditioned. Justin Timpane, who plays the magistrate Danforth, is an amazing actor. We definitely became a family in the course of creating this play."

McCall & Brian Doyle as Elizabeth & John Proctor; Blake Wood as Hathorne