Love it or hate it, one thing is sure; this is not your mother’s Crucible. To begin with, there’s the question of the interracial casting, even though Abigail notes, “I will not black my face for any of them,” which is obviously a racial slur. In a time and place as insular as 17th century Massachusetts, being black or Asian might well have been enough to have you declared a witch. In fact, the one character who’s always portrayed by an African-American, Tituba (Jenny Jules), is immediately accused of being a pawn of the devil, and leading young girls astray. Of course, there are no witches- or are there? How is it that in this production, fragile Betty Parris (Elizabeth Teeter) actually can levitate? Ben Whishaw is not the obvious choice to cast as Proctor. He’s described as “strong” more than once in the script, while the actor is on the less robust side. At the heart of every production of The Crucible is the affair that farmer John Proctor (Ben Whishaw) has had with his servant girl, Abigail Williams (Saoirse Ronan). It’s been over for seven months, but there’s still a certain attraction between them, and his wife has her suspicions. Never has there been a cooler Abigail. Ronan exudes not fire, but ice, which becomes especially interesting when Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth (Sophie Okonedo), sit perilously close to an open flame on the stage. There’s a huge stewpot on the makeshift hearth. Should it remind us of a Shakespearean witches’ cauldron, a la Macbeth? Do the flames foreshadow the fact that Proctor’s errant passion will doom his family? It can’t represent the slaying of those accused; in Salem, the condemned were hanged, not burned, with the exception of crusty old Giles Corey (Jim Norton), who was pressed to death. Why the disparity of accents? Whishaw and Okonedo both speak like the Brits they are, rather than with the flat American accent which is being largely employed in this production? If it is to indicate that they are separate from the people of the village, why not have Corey, another dissident, speak with Norton’s natural brogue? Why is there no attempt to speak as Massachusetts citizens of that era would have, when the names of all are recognized as being legitimately those still found in New England? The one accurate touch is that Judge Hathorne’s name is pronounced with a flat “a,” not “aw” as is now common. Salem in1692 is not some nebulous region; the story is based on historical fact and real people. The large, dark, non-descript set, which starts out as a schoolroom for sweetly singing young girls, stands for every place else, including what must have been the tiny Proctor home. The clothing, in muted shades, brings to mind how mundane a life these people must have led. Throughout, we hear chords being played, sometimes softly, sometimes with noticeable volume. It’s impossible to miss the obvious references which are pertinent today. Those who are not like us may poison us and must be expunged from our population. Be careful what you say; someone may be listening. Even the salary dispute is in tune with our modern times. The Salem Witch Trials is a subject which continues to fascinate us. For those who wish to take their education to another level, the town of Salem, with its moving museum, is a good place to start. Stacy Schiff has written an excellent book on the subject, “The Witches.” Dig deeper, and find out how the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne were influenced by family guilt over his infamous ancestor. Even if you are not inspired to go further, this production of The Crucible is guaranteed to make you think.
