You’re in Salem, Massachusetts, and the year’s 1692. There is mass hysteria, and rumors are spreading that there are witches in your community. You hear about people confessing to crimes of witchcraft and being hung out for their crimes. Most students recognize this play as The Crucible by Arthur Miller, as everyone is required to read it during sophomore year.
Elizabeth Proctor (Jai Deans ‘23) and John Proctor (Dominic Gibson ‘23) have an awkward conversation over their lack of love in their relationship as husband and wife. Photo courtesy Malin Tangsujaritpunt.
Dominic Gibson ‘23, who played John Proctor, reflects upon The Crucible being his last play as a senior.
“I feel pretty sad not gonna lie because this department has a really big impact on me as a person,” Gibson said. “I feel like it’s inspired a lot of students to be themselves and be creative, but I’m glad we got to go out with a bang because I really believe The Crucible was a really good way to go out.”
Often, actors in the theater community find opening night is their best performance. However, Gibson feels differently about his favorite performance as he enjoyed hearing the audience’s reactions to a sold-out show.
“I thought the second night was the best because it was a sold-out show,” Gibson said. “You could just feel the energy of the crowd whenever you walked on stage. You could feel the energy in the room whenever you did something very crucial in your scene or said something funny or said something very dramatic, sad or mad.”
Abigail Williams (Kennedy Rogers ‘23) screams at the top of her lungs and acts like Mary Warren is hurting her to prove Mary Warren’s guilt. Photo courtesy Malin Tangsujaritpunt.
Anna Schwartz ‘24, who played Ann Putnam, enjoys the bonding aspect of the theater community. She particularly enjoys making memories with the cast members off-stage.
“My favorite parts of the shows are never on stage, but with the cast,” Schwartz said. “The black box hair/makeup station is always a special time, and our kind of crazy superstitious warm-up traditions always make for great memories.”
Schwartz enjoyed exploring her character’s different choices and the reasoning behind them.
“I enjoyed getting to make decisions about the character that could humanize her and her reactions to the immorality of her husband and neighbors,” Schwartz said. “I also found it interesting that she really started a lot of the chaos by asking her daughter to summon spirits, and it was a cool process to analyze her guilt.”
Typically, plays are not sold out, so it was a special moment for the theater community that everyone came out to support them. Rogers was shocked due to the large amount of support and expresses gratitude toward everyone who came to watch the play on Friday.
“This was the first time I have ever performed in a sold-out show at Woodward, and I was so happy that people were genuinely interested,” Rogers said. “I remember my jaw dropping when my fellow cast mate Dominic told me we were sold out and I could not believe it. It really means a lot when people support the arts at Woodward, and I am so grateful that so many people got to see such an amazing show.”
John Proctor (Dominic Gibson ‘23) tries to comfort Mary Warren (Jordyn Nelson ‘23) as she is confessing in an attempt to save Elizabeth’s life. Photo courtesy Malin Tangsujaritpunt.