Based on the Salem witch trials, the play emphasizes the danger a fear-based society can create and its potential to destroy lives.
The BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts presents The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Performances will begin Mar. 24 at 7:30 p.m. and run through Apr. 8 in the Margetts Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU.
This production won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play and is regarded as a central work in the canon of American drama. The play premiered on Broadway Jan. 22, 1953.
Under the direction of David Morgan, the play will be stylistically unique and will include the use of character masks. These masks help the actors develop their characters from the outside in and create a rare experience for the audience to become more involved in the story and message than with the individual characters.
“There is always an awareness that you are watching a play or a performance with the masks,” Morgan said. “I’m hoping it makes audience members stop and figure out what the play is about.”
Based on the Salem witch trials, the play emphasizes the danger a fear-based society can create and its potential to destroy lives. The play highlights the Puritan way of looking at the world as black and white or right and wrong. Everything on the set will be black and white including the set design and costumes.
“The metaphor we are trying to play in terms of the masks is how these people are so afraid of being judged that they put up masks to protect themselves,” Morgan said. “The only person who doesn’t wear a mask in the piece is John Proctor.”
Tickets for the show are on sale now and are available at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com.
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Director: David Morgan
Betty Parris: Jessica Ashby
Reverend Samuel Parris: Spencer Hunsicker
Tituba: Erika Ovuoba
Abigail Williams: Abbie Martschenko
Susanna Wallcott: Alana Bishop Wilcox
Mrs. Ann Putnam: Ann Lopez
Thomas Putnam: Jared Wells
Mercy Lewis: Miriam Edwards
Mary Warren: Heather McDonald
John Proctor: Tyler Hatch
Rebecca Nurse/Martha Corey/Sarah Good: Chelsea Mortensen
Giles Corey: Franco Acosta
Reverend John Hale: Cooper Sutton
Elizabeth Proctor: Mariah Bowles
Francis Nurse: Dayne Joyner
Ezekiel Cheever: Andrew Groome
John Willard: Nathan Meyers
Judge Hathorne: Taycen Timothy
Deputy-Governor Danforth: Paul DeWitt
Mr. Hopkins: Elliott Sweeney
Violinist: Clara Richardson
Writer: Bailey Fruit
