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Preview by Jack Foley
THE Chelsea Players are to present a new production of Arthur
Miller's The Crucible, one of the 20th Century’s
best-known plays, which uses the 1692 Salem, Massachusetts witch
trials as an allegory for equally terrifying events in more recent
times.
The trials were based solely on the accusations of one girl who
claimed to have witnessed a number of Salem's residents consorting
with Satan. Based on her evidence, alleged witches were hanged
or pressed to death.
The late Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 to highlight
McCarthyism, a movement led by Senator Joe McCarthy and his House
Committee on Un-American Activities.
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McCarthyism centred on the hunting
down and exposing of suspected communists. Those found guilty
in McCarthy's witch-hunt were not executed, but many suffered
irreparable damage to their reputations and careers. Miller himself
was targeted.
The Crucible is a powerfully dramatic play that speaks to anyone
who has lived in a society where the questioning of authority
and of general opinion leads to rejection and punishment, and
is as relevant today as when it was first staged.
This new production will be staged at the London Oratory
Arts Centre, in Fulham, London, in June, and will be
directed by Callum O’Neill.
Performances: June 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2005, at 7:45pm
Matinee performance: Saturday, June 4 at 2:30pm
CAST: Abigail Williams (Nessa Wrafter); Mary Warren (Sophie Henley);
Mercy Lewis (Gwendolen von Einsiedel); Susanna Walcott (Sarah
Zeiser); Betty Parris (Ellie Graham); Elizabeth Proctor (Clea
Langton); Ann Putnam (Sue Cockburn-Bowyer); Rebecca Nurse / Sarah
Good (Anne Greenslade); Tituba (Melissa James); John Proctor (Patrick
Pilcher); Reverend Hale (Ben Swann); Reverend Parris (Garth Wright);
Deputy Governor Danforth (Mike Knapp); Thomas Putnam (Richard
Williams); Judge Hathorne (Will Hartley); Marshall Herrick (Tim
Pierce); Ezekiel Cheever (Allon Sylvain); Giles Corey (Bill Boyd);
Francis Nurse (James Campbell).
London Oratory Arts Centre, Seagrave Road, Fulham, London,
SW6 1RX
Bookings: 020 8946 2263 Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions)
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