The UH School of Theatre and Dance is performing it’s final run of the “The Crucible” this weekend; the show is one of two scheduled for the reminder of this season. | Emily Chambers/The Daily Cougar
Arthur Miller’s Tony award-winning historical drama ”The Crucible” opened Friday with a decent turn out at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.
The play’s artistic director Gus Kaikkonen, from the Peterborough Players, has directed many successful plays on and off Broadway and proved himself yet again with a mature production.
This classic play based on the Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts in 17th century colonial America, along with a representation of the historical parallels of McCarthyism kept the simplicity of the script alive.
The story revolved around 22 actors who did a fine job carving out a powerful performance together.
The emotionally charged and dramatic scenes were performed with a sense of sophistication and made the system of justice from the colonial era come alive.
The audience could sense the similarity of our world today to the one back then.
The honesty and inner-conflict of John Proctor played by Benjamin Reed brought out the sensitivity of a character caught between the strange turn of events and the revenge of the character Abigail, who he regretfully commits adultery with.
Jenna Simmons depicted the vengeful Abigail who will go to any extent to kill John Proctor’s wife, brought humor and madness to her role.
Standout performances included Alan Wales as Danforth, Adam Sowers as Parris, Rosie Ward as Rebecca, Dylan Paul Hilpman as Hale, and Melanie Burke as Tituba and Michaela Heidemann.
The supporting actors brought out the sophistication and technique of their craft, which tuned in the audience during the insane, yet humorous court scenes.
The stage was an elaborate masterpiece that changed from scene to scene with minimal fuss.
All in all, this play truly highlighted the acting prowess of UH’s own; one would not be faulted for believing that they were watching the play on Broadway itself.
