Studying The Crucible
(Posted on 12/12/22)
An introduction to the play by Charlotte Samson 10L1
In Year 10 GCSE Drama we are studying a play called The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The play is set in the late 16th century in North America. It takes place after people moved there to colonise the new world and to get away from England which was becoming less religious. Therefore these people are very strict in their religion and follow it closely.
They live in a town called Salem and the story starts off with a girl, Betty, who is sick in bed and her father, Reverend Parris, is praying by her side. His niece Abigail is being accused of witchcraft because Reverend Parris caught Abigail, Betty and a few other girls dancing which was going against their religion. Abigail claims that it was innocent and that the girls were just having fun. Reverend Hale comes to see Betty and everyone accuses Titiba, Rev. Parris’s slave from Barbadeos, of being a witch. Titiba confesses, under pressure and the ministers try to help her. Abigail sees this then claims she made a pact with the devil and starts yelling out names of lower class women who are allegedly witches. Betty joins in and it starts to spiral into chaos as the people believe the girl and so begins the trial for witches.
The main characters are John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth, Abigail, Mary Warren, Reverend Hale and Parris and the members of the court. My first impression of the play was that it would probably be weird, old folk burning women at the stake but upon reading it I am now beginning to see that it is a story of what happens when lies and fake news are taken too far and innocent people pay the consequences.
First impressions of the production we are watching in class by Sophie Pincho 10BY1
I am enjoying the Old Vic production of The Crucible directed by Yaël Farber as the plot keeps you on your toes. I think that the acting, use of props and staging really make the piece effective. At the moment, my favourite character is Abigail because she is keeping her story even though it is being fully questioned, and the power she has over basically the whole town is quite admirable and courageous.
Playing Mary Warren by Heidi Burkinshaw 10L1 (Heidi received a Golden Ticket for her fearless portrayal of Mary Warren in class!)
Mary Warren is a servant girl to John Proctor’s household who is controlled by fear. She follows the most powerful characters and always swaps to the winning side. When she turns against John Proctor, she can be quite defiant, however she still remains terrified. For my vocal techniques, I used a panicked and frightened tone of voice that shook as I spoke, with a high pitch and fast pace to show how scared she was. I stood with my shoulders forward to show Mary Warren hiding away but with an erect and trembling posture to show how she is ready to run away if anyone tries to harm her. She also stands far away from other characters when she has the chance as she is terrified of everyone as they all have the power to hurt her.
Playing John Proctor by Jack Downs 10K2 and Liam Henshaw 10L2
John Proctor is quite a stern character and usually is serious throughout the whole play.
When I was acting as him I had to play him with quite a distressed voice but I also had to be calm to make sure that I didn't stress her out, and I had to use quite tense movements. I also added some voice cracks to my voice to add more emotion to the whole piece. (Jack)
John has a unique personality because of his warm aura however he can lash out furiously at occasions. In a lesson, the scene was when John was reciting his 10 commandments, however, he forgot one of them. I spoke with a stutter, unconfident about my commandments, “The commandments?”. I began to stand up out of my chair and walk around Hale and Elizabeth, nervously stating my commandments and counting them on my fingers. I took longer hesitations between saying them. At my last commandment, I repeated one of them by accident. My partner Elizabeth calmly corrected me by saying “Adultery, John.” Referencing John’s affair with another woman. I tried exclaiming with Hale that it was a mistake, awkwardly laughing between sentences, and claiming that ‘we both know them together’. (Liam)
Playing Elizabeth Proctor by Annie Gill 10BA2, Abby Holloway 10K2 and Gemma Aird 10K2
Playing Elizabeth Proctor's role is really interesting as you have to express her emotions through body language. Presenting her feelings is challenging because most of the lines are spoken numbly, eye contact creates tension and the use of space in groups presents the scene and sets the tense mood of ‘The Crucible’. (Annie)
Elizabeth Proctor is the wife of John Proctor in the play The Crucible. In our lesson we did a practical task and we took it in turns to play each character and performed a scene of the play following the script. I was playing the part of Elizabeth. In this scene Mary Warren (John and Elizabeth's maid) is handing her a Poppet she has made whilst in court. To show my character in this scene I paused on the commas to show my emotion and to show I'm confused as to why Mary has just given me this. I also used raised eyebrows to show the sense of confusion and remained seated but moved my head back and forth to show my confusion. (Abby)
When I played Elizabeth Proctor, I used my vocal skills, on the line, “I think you be somewhat ashamed, for I am there, and she so close.” I added pauses to create more suspense and
used a slow pace. E.g “I think…you be…somewhat ashamed, for I am there, and she.. so close.” When I said this I also lowered the pitch of my voice. I remained seated.I turned my face away from John, as I couldn't bear looking at him. I looked down at the floor to show I was disappointed with him..My body was tense, my fists were clenched and my back was hunched slightly to show the tension that she feels in this scene.
Playing Abigail Williams by Ava Scholes 10L1
Abigail Williams is a stern character that can be difficult to play in many circumstances. When I am acting as Abigail I have to show very little emotion and have a unhappy and angry facial expression as well as holding eye contact when talking to another character to show how much confidence she has. Abigail is unliked by many characters in the play for example Elizabeth Proctor hates Abigail because Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor.
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