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Puritan history brief salem witch trials
Salem witch trials of 1692
Puritan history brief salem witch trials
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The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller and directed by Chris Mangels and Zebulin Elliott at the COS Theatre Department, has been and will continue to be a historical play about the widely known cases of the Salem witchcraft trials. The genre of this play is a tragedy, the infamous witchcraft trials are brought to life after a young teen, Abigail, accuses nice citizens in the small town of Salem of witchcraft. Things quickly escalate to a bad ending where innocent people are put in the verge of life or death. The main aspects of the play such as the direction, acting, and design of the show play huge roles hand in hand as the director manages to get designers and performers to keep the same stylistic approach throughout the entirety of the production. …show more content…
Although, there are quite a few inherent challenges in directing a show like the one I saw. Those include having actors who can get comfortable and confident with whatever role they are playing. Most of the time in acting it is required for you to get out of your comfort zone and go beyond boundaries to stay and play in different character. The director took a specific style and or approach with this production and it was a unique one that took the audience back to a different era. The tones and ways of speaking, dressing, and interaction of the small town was something common back in those years. I completely made sense of the production. The theme of this play was mainly dealing with integrity and reputation. Some characters were in a complicated situation, while some only protected their reputation, other major characters like John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse chose to protect their integral values. The director’s interpretation of the theme was obvious in the play, this was seen in various roles and I quickly noted who was the type of character to have high credibility …show more content…
As for the scenic part, the production did a great job. The stage was filled with realistic scenery such as the court room stands and or a dining table. Also, a bed and window were used which helped the audience know where the plays events take place. Costumes were outstanding, and each character was distinguishable to who they are or what they do. The marshal and the Reverend each had their appropriate costume, same with all the girls whom had their dresses. Furthermore, the costumes helped me identify the local farmers and even the wealthy land owners. Lighting helped in setting the atmosphere for the play. It is critical to have lighting to set the mood and focus on a play. On the same page, sound is essential in creating atmosphere also. At the end of the play the sound of cows was heard, this helped the small town realize that most of the land owners were not there to attend their belongings since most of them were being accused. Sound aided in expressing actions and feelings in this play. For the most part the designers seemed to be working as a cohesive unit. This production was unified, and no elements clashed with each other. Design was indeed a great help in giving the audience key ideas about the concept of the
The focus of Miller’s The Crucible is an appalling witch trial that morfs the once-peaceful town of Salem into a cutthroat slaughterhouse. As a lucrative playwright and a not-so-subtle allegory author, Miller is a seasoned wordsmith who addresses people akin to himself, and is not secretive about that information. The Crucible best serves its purpose as a learning device and a social statement, especially at the time of its publishing. Miller‘s piece showcases the appeals in an easy-to-identify manner that is perfect for middle or high school students who are new to the appeals, or for English majors who have no problem pinpointing them, making this play ideal for a classroom setting.
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
The plot of the play was very well performed in the way that they got the point across quite well. There was only one factor that disturbed me about the plot of the play witch was that some issues were extended and made the play longer. This story was seen in my eyes as a story about a Brooklyn girl that grew up her entire life using defense mechanisms such as alcohol and sex to compensate for her bad childhood and for her unsuccessful employment life.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history surrounding the Salem witch trials of the seventeenth century, yet is as much a product of the time in which Arthur Miller wrote it, the early 1950s, as it is description of Puritan society. At that particular time in the 1950s, when Arthur Miller wrote the play the American Senator McCarthy who chaired the ‘House Un-American Activities Committee’ was very conscious of communism and feared its influence in America. It stopped authors’ writings being published in fear of them being socialist sympathisers. Miller was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and that human beings were capable of such madness. In the 1950s the audience would have seen the play as a parallel between the McCarthy trials and the Salem Trials.
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.
“Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away from.” by Arthur Miller. All great works provide a way to reach in and grab the audience through the reoccurring themes like, greed, jealousy, reputation and hypocrisy. Arthur Miller had one of those great works and it was called “The Crucible”. The play was based off of the witch trials that happened in Salem in the year of 1962. Some of the characters were actual characters involved in the witch trials. Arthur Miller wrote this play during the time of the “Red Scare”. Miller wrote The Crucible because he wanted to turn the The Salem Witch Trials into
I could see how Harold Hill’s tactic changed from something along the lines of ‘to deceive’ to ‘to woo’ around the song “The sadder but wiser girl”. Marian Paroo’s tactic also changes from ‘to avoid’ to ‘to love’ around “My white Knight”. These actors also projected extremely well, as I could hear everything being said. They articulated well too, which I believe must be hard for them as every character had a southern accent. The actors easily incorporated their character’s goals into their acting and onstage
The choreography kept things interesting and the dances in a musical can make or break the performance. Overall, Cherie and Abby did an amazing job directing each person to have a place among a crowded stage. Last but not least, the costumes! This play was set in the 1890s, meaning it is very important to have correlating costumes so the audience can be aware of what time period they are in.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” a well known quote by George Santayana, which has proven to be true. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about the Salem witch trials in 1962. The play shows that large scale hysteria can cause people to act against their morals and create false justification to harm others. Miller’s purpose in writing this play is to criticize the acts of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the anti communist hysteria of the 1950s in America.
In 1953, the play called “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller created hysteria in all parts of the country. This play describes the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and the irony of a terrible period of American history.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
The stage was a small circle and the audience was circling around the stage. On the stage was a single small bench. I was surprised because I am used to being in a theater that has a stage with numerous props. Once the production started, I immediately realized that the play was character based. It relied on only the characters to tell the story, since there was no props or scenery on the stage besides the bench .This complemented the play because it made the audience pay more attention the dialogue, and it gave the characters meaning. For example, usually the props are what carry the play, but this time since there was hardly any props or scenery, the characters are the ones who gave the play life and meaning. It made the play appear more real and full of life. In my personal experience, I felt a connection the characters and found myself feelings emotions for them, whether it was being angry at them, sad for them, etc. Additionally, the lighting and sound design where done extremely well. There wasn’t too much music in the play, but the small amount there was gave the scene that the music was playing in more emotion. For example, when Proteus starts singing about loving Sylvia, it made the audience feel more heartbreak for Julia, since she was able to hear what Proteus was singing about. I wasn’t familiar with John Kander when I went into the theater, so I could not tell which songs where is. However, I did enjoy the music and the sounds, for example crickets in the background, boats departing, etc. The sounds gave the scenes more life, since there was hardly any props used in the stage. Additionally, the lightning helped create different scenes. For example, when it was night, the lights turned a darkish purple/blue color. When it was morning, the lights where bright, and even sometimes orange. This made the scenes more dramatic, since the audience can see and hear what is going on
I liked the play, however, I thought that the plot could have been a little stronger. Compared to the entertainment today, which display deep, intense stories that give the need to keep watching to see how it ends. They are not always fast paced or overly exci...
There wasn’t any particular scene on stage that made me doubt the integrative work of the director since all the staging work such as lighting, design, costumes and performance were well coordinated and blended for a very good production. The lights were well positioned with well fitted costumes and a very ideal scene to match. There wasn’t much change of scenes in the play except for some movement of tables and chairs. There was an entrance and exit for the performers which made their movements uninterrupted. There was a loud sound of a bell when school was over while the lights were dimmed whenever there was a change of scene. The pace of the production was very smooth since one scene followed the other without delay and most likely because most of the performers wore the same costume; especially all eight students wore the same costume for the entire