Crucible Reflection

On October 12th, I was invited to watch an open dress rehearsal for The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, at the Theatre Calgary. I had already read the play back in high school, so I didn’t expect to be amazed by the performance. However, the performance ended up blowing me away. This was the second professional play I had ever watched, and it allowed me to understand how much work professional acting takes. Overall, the performance had me hooked in the moment even though I already knew what was going to happen next.

In terms of acting the majority of the cast did extremely well; I would believe what they had said, and I would even forget they were playing characters. The one who stood out to me the most was the lead actor who played John Proctor.

It was quite interesting because the cast would sing a song while changing the set. Although the singing made it harder for the actors to change the set, I found it fit in the world created. For instance, playing a song from the tech booth would instantly disconnect us from the world since technology like that didn’t exist at the time. While watching the play, there wasn’t a second where I questioned the costumes or lightning. They both were seamlessly implemented into the play. The scenography also involved using very large wooden beams to build each scene; this made sense since buildings in that time would have large wooden beams as well. The cast was extremely organized when it came to creating the set. At one moment, if you looked closely, you could tell they had made a mistake. However, the cast stayed calm and took their time to make sure everything was done properly. Overall, the scenography was well done.

The play is extremely well written by Arthur Miller. I remember reading it in high school, and absolutely loving the play. Every bit of detail is used with a purpose, and like any tragedy, the wrong things happen at the wrong time; this leaves the reader on the edge of their seat hoping that things will get better. I’m not surprised that this play continues to be put in production, or taught in