I went to a fabulous amateur production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible last night and if anyone is looking for an enjoyable production to see and is free tonight or Thursday then it is certainly worth seeing on its final two performances at The Gulbenkian Theatre, University of Kent, Canterbury.
I must admit to not having read the play, but I was aware of the story of the Salem Witch Trials and have visited Salem some years ago, so the material still felt familiar to me. I was also aware or the play being a thinly disguised parable of the McCarthy Communist witch hunts in 1950s America, but this is really secondary to the gripping nature of the story.
The play is in four acts running to just under 3 hours excluding interval and has been put on by the T24 Drama Society.
For me I thought the actors who played John Proctor (Liam Horrigan) and Giles Corey (Christopher Grace) were superb. The former stole the show with the power of his performance alongside his wife Elizabeth Proctor (Georgie Barwick) and when in dialogue with Judge Hawthorne (Joe Fort). But I especially the Giles Corey performance when during huge periods on stage with no dialogue kept character brilliantly with all his facial expressions - the trembling lip - and other quirks. But also so many others of the cast too were excellent. Although not warming initially to the Rev Parris, (probably due to my own workings out of the structure of the play and initially who the characters were) as things hotted up he became delightful with his obsequiousness.
I would definitely support this drama group again based on last night's performance, and would encourage more people to support such local groups to ensure they continue producing such gems.
Wednesday 6th March 2013
