THE CRUCIBLE
by Arthur Miller
Off-Broadway Theater, Yale College
October 30 - November 1, 2014
*** Featured in Playbill.com's List of "Innovative Collegiate Productions from 2014-2015" ***
CREATIVE TEAM
directed by Noam Shapiro
produced by Laurel Lehman
dramaturgy by Eve Houghton
stage managed by Erin Ryan & Aviva Abusch
musical direction by Sam Hollister
assistant directed by Katie Kirk & Cyrus Duff
assistant stage managed by Catherine Lacy
set & properties design by Hannah Friedman
costume design by Emma Spence
lighting design by Noam Shapiro
sound design by Noam Shapiro
photography by Jennifer Liu, Alexandra Schleming and Stephanie Addenbrooke
ENSEMBLE
Rachel Okun (Betty Parris)
Sam Levatich (Reverend Samuel Parris)
Gineiris Garcia (Tituba)
Lizzy Emanuel (Abigail Williams)
Isabel Mendia (Susanna Wallcott)
Ellie Boswell (Mrs. Ann Putnam)
Ezriel Gelbfish (Thomas Putnam)
Lilla Brody (Mercy Lewis)
Maxine Dillon (Mary Warren)
Kyle Yoder (John Proctor)
Charlotte Juergens (Rebecca Nurse)
Jack Taperell (Giles Corey)
Alec Mukamal (Reverend John Hale)
Rebecca Brudner (Elizabeth Proctor)
Ryan Dailey (Francis Nurse)
Greg Suralik (Ezekiel Cheever)
Jae Shin (Marshall George Herrick)
Dillon Miller (Judge John Hathorne)
Noah Konkus (Deputy-Governor Thomas Danforth)
Jill Carrera (Elizabeth Hubbard)
Erin Krebs (Ruth Putnam)
Natalie Rose Schwartz (Sarah Good)
Noam Shapiro (John Willard)
Sam Hollister (George Jacobs)
THE CRUCIBLE
Our production of The Crucible was an actor-driven, highly physical, stripped-down, and immersive production of Arthur Miller's seminal play. The production explored Poor Theater staging techniques, the use of found objects, Puritan hymns and psalms, the actor-spectator relationship, and collaborative Story Theater.
Staged in the round, every element of the show--from lighting to sound effects to music--was collaboratively created by our ensemble members on the spot. As such, no two performances were exactly the same. Lighting was created exclusively through handheld wooden flashlights. No overhead traditional lighting was employed. Sound design was created using household objects and wooden instruments. No sound effects were piped in through speakers. Music was provided by the ensemble, which performed sixteen specially arranged Puritan hymns a cappella from the Ainsworth Psalter and the Bay Psalm Book. Intermission was timed by an hour glass. Throughout the performance, the actors remained sitting amongst audience members and would only leave their seats when needed for a scene. By immersing the audience in the "Puritan Meeting House" of our play, the audience and actors merged into a community that was both complicit in the increasing hysteria of the witch trials and essential for the successful execution of the production.
Synopsis:
In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions. When Abigail Williams accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. As John Proctor attempts to save his wife, he quickly finds himself accused of witchcraft and drawn into the hysteria of the town. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbors to betray one another stands as a study of the debilitating power of guilt, the seductions of power, the flawed nature of the individual, and the courage with which some people confront what seems to be a ruling orthodoxy.
PRESS
“Earlier this year, directing student Noam Shapiro was inspired to re-imagine Cabaret within the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp located in Czechoslovakia... In 2014, Shapiro pushed boundaries again with an immersive staging of The Crucible.”
"Innovative College Productions That Thought Outside the Theatrical Box," by Olivia Clement for Playbill.com, August 24, 2015
“When you visit the show, you immediately become a part of the community. You’re not just a spectator, but you’re also a participant in the story and in the theatrical creation of this show... The nature of the production is bare bones. I think it’s theater at its rawest, and at that point, I also think its theater at its rarest.”
"Play to Revisit Salem Witch Trials," by Joey Ye for the Yale Daily News, October 29, 2014