Grant Aids Theatre Department’s Research for The Crucible

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on October 12, 2017, No Comments

There’s no substitute for being able to touch a piece of history.

Thanks to a grant from the East Stroudsburg University Foundation, more than 30 members of the cast and production staff of ESU’s upcoming production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible were able to visit historic Salem, Massachusetts to research the sites and characters in the drama.

“As we drove into Salem, I started to feel heavy pressure,” said Abigail Witt, a sophomore from Mountainhome, Pa., who is majoring in musical theatre. “My character, Abigail Williams, carries a lot of blame for the witch trials because she falsely accused many people of witchcraft. Reading the last words of those hanged made me feel very emotional and very sad.”

During their visit to Salem, the group took a “Black Cat” walking tour of places connected to the trials, which was customized to include more background information on characters in the play.

Rashiek Lauren, a junior from Philadelphia, Pa. who is majoring in musical theatre, learned that his character, John Proctor, “may have been accused of witchcraft because he didn’t stay within the ‘closed’ bounds of the settler community and had secret dealings with the Native Americans.”

Those hanged as witches could not be buried in consecrated ground, so their bodies were tossed into a pit and only lightly covered over with dirt. Some bodies were removed at night and secretly buried, but the graves of many, like John Proctor, are unknown.

As part of the 300th anniversary of the trials in 1992, a memorial to the victims of the trials was dedicated in Salem. “When I was standing at the memorial, suddenly the story became an actual event, not just a play,” said John Lauri, a senior from Long Pond, Pa. majoring in theatre with a concentration in directing, who is playing Reverend Hale in the production. “People still come and leave flowers and cards at the memorial.”

Matthew Namik, a junior from Pocono Lake, Pa. majoring in acting for theatre, television and film, had the opportunity to visit his character’s grave in the Charter Street Cemetery next to the memorial. Namik plays John Hathorne, one of judges at the trials.

“Just walking up to the tombstone was very surreal,” Namik said. “This is a real person, whether good or not so good, that I’ll be playing and I want to understand where he comes from as a human being before developing my portrait of him.”

One place where the group literally touched history was at the Witches’ Dungeon Museum where one of the exhibits had actual cross beams from a cell used to hold prisoners waiting to be tried for witchcraft. “Everyone was able to put a hand on the beam,” said Stephanie Daventry French, professor of theatre and director of The Crucible.

A Salem guide who grew up in the former Soviet Union highlighted another element of the play for the group by discussing what it was like to live in an oppressive society.

The ESU group stayed in Danvers, Massachusetts, which contained several sites connected to the trials, including John Proctor’s and Rebecca Nurse’s homes and the village Meeting House.

In 1692, Danvers was known as Salem Village, home to a farming community that supported the merchant community in nearby Salem Town. All of the victims of the trials lived in Salem Village,  French explained. “Salem Town was the seat of power and wealth. Salem Village’s lack of power led to quarrels among the farmers who were looking for any way to improve their status.”

Summing up the visit, French said that the grant from the ESU Foundation “made the trip affordable for the students so that they could sharpen their insights into the events and characters in the play and made the research they had already done come vividly to life.”

ESU’s Theatre Department will present The Crucible October 18, 20, and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and October 22 at 2 p.m. in the Smith-McFarland Theatre of the Fine & Performing Arts Center, Normal and Marguerite streets, East Stroudsburg. Tickets can be reserved online. For more information, email esuarts@esu.edu or call 570-422-3483.