By Russ Tarby
Contributing Writer
An oddly unsettling scene unfolds in Act 1 of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” when a comatose 10-year-old suddenly rises on her bed and deliriously declares, “I saw you dance with the devil!” In the current CNY Playhouse production, actress Alexandra Dubaniewicz portrays the stricken Betty Parris, daughter of a haughty preacher, and her big blue eyes bulge as she makes her accusations. As Betty screeches and squirms, her actions frighteningly foreshadow subsequent events.
Betty’s pointing finger is soon joined by fingers pointed by the other girls who’d been caught after dark, frolicking in the forest, a sure sign of blossoming witchcraft, or so it seemed in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, circa 1690.
The back story takes a lurid turn when it’s revealed that the girls’ ringleader, the preacher’s niece, Abigail — as menacingly portrayed by Mia Degironimo — is the spurned lover of a married farmer. That man is John Proctor, played by one of the area’s most talented leading men, Ben Sills. That secret adultery ultimately leads Abigail to falsely accuse Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, of witchcraft.
Actress Korrie Taylor excels as Elizabeth, a loving wife and helpmeet to her industrious husband, hurt by his dalliance with Abigail but willing to forgive. It’s a role that taxes emotions ranging from sympathy to anger to admiration.
Miller originally named the play “Those Familiar Spirits” before titling it “The Crucible.” The word crucible is defined as a severe test or trial, or alternately as a container in which metals are subjected to high temperatures. Characters such as John Proctor, whose moral standards prevail in the face of death, symbolically refuse to sacrifice their principles or to falsely confess.
The play was first staged in 1953 as an allegory for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities which was ostracizing alleged communists on flimsy evidence. Many were jailed simply for refusing to name other persons who had attended political meetings.
Miller, who visited Massachusetts to research the 17th century witch trials, drew clear parallels between the Salem accusers and the Washington red-baiters.
Helmed by award-winning choreographer and director Shannon Tompkins, this “Crucible” benefits from the experienced stagecraft of set designer Josh Taylor and costumer Harlow Kisselstein. Like the deft dance captain she is, Tompkins carefully blocked the large cast of 20, and she coaxed spellbinding performances from many.
Sills and Taylor shine as the Proctors and Degironimo is perfect as the vengeful woman scorned. John Brackett gave us a self-important Reverend Parris, his high-pitched voice often trembling in paranoia. Keith Arlington portrays Giles Corey, a cantankerous old ally of Proctor’s, and the bald yet fully bearded Simon Moody plays an officious and autocratic Deputy Governor Danforth. Colleen Snow makes her presence felt as Rebecca Nurse although it’s a small role, and R. Bernard Ment as Francis Nurse, boldly declares, “The girls are frauds!”
Abel Searor – most often seen behind his keyboard conducting dozens of local musicals – displays some fine acting chops here as the Rev. John Hale, an outside specialist in “curing” witchcraft. His character has the greatest arc of all as Searor shows him slowly retreating from his initial role as an accuser to self-appointed savior. Disillusioned with the abuses of the trials, by Act 4 he’s trying to save as many suspects as possible.
One of the best performances of the play comes from a Fayetteville-Manlius High School senior, the precocious Lauren Koss, as the Proctor’s servant girl, Mary Warren. Koss’s Mary runs the gamut from cowering to crying to crowing like a banshee. She initially helps John Proctor, but later turns on him to save herself. Along the way, Koss shows she has the emotional depth necessary to create a complex character. Brava!
“The Crucible,” produced by Kate Crawford, runs at 8 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19, 20 and 21, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, and at 8 p.m. Oct. 22, 27 and 28, at CNY Playhouse, located near the Macy’s entrance at on the second level of ShoppingTown Mall, in DeWitt. Tickets cost $17 on Thursday and $20 on Friday and Saturday; cnyplayhouse.org; 315-885-8960.
