For powerful theater, see ‘The Crucible’

By Guy D’Astolfo

The cast turned in strong performances for the opening of the play.

YOUNGSTOWN — “The Crucible” is a departure from the series of Halloween plays staged every October by J&B Productions and the Victorian Players.

Arthur Miller’s masterful play is chilling, but unlike the groups’ past spooky season offerings, it’s not based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, and its terror is not derived from madness or the supernatural.

In short, it is less scary and more rewarding. It brings home how intolerance can turn a society upside down.

The 20-person cast — directed by John Ballantyne — conveyed every nuance of Miller’s play. It was something special, and Friday’s opening night audience could sense it.

Few were the stumbles in this long and dialogue-heavy drama. The cast delivered the stilted English of 17th-century Massachusetts colony naturally, even passionately.

By now, most know that “The Crucible” is an allegory for the communist hunt led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. But even if you aren’t aware of its double life as a modern-day parable, it is powerful theater. Dozens of lives were ruined — or taken — for a crime that never existed.

It begins with a little mischief by some teen girls in the Puritanical town of Salem. Some late-night shenanigans led by a servant woman from the Caribbean schooled in dark arts is discovered by the overzealous Rev. Parris, the town’s fire-and-brimstone preacher.

John Proctor, a farmer who is put off by Parris’ manner, stands up to the witch hunt before falling prey to it.

Manipulating the learned men of the court is a teen-ager named Abigail Williams. Immature and scorned, she is the ringleader of the girls who point accusatory fingers while the single-minded judges hang on every word.

The Victorian stage is small, but the large cast puts on a big play that is engrossing for its entire three hours.

Fine performances mark the production. Roger Wright deserves first mention as the strident and prideful man of God, Rev. Parris. He is riveting when he speaks, angry and full of the boiling fervor of a young religion.

Others stand out, such as Ballantyne, the director, who plays the lead role of John Proctor with familiarity. He captures the essence and independent streak of this flawed but righteous colonist with every line and movement.

Chara Goodrich plays Abigail Williams, a truly mean girl who is at her best when angry. It is a chilling moment when this shrewd young woman begins the big lie that changes the course of the drama, like a switch being flipped.

Lisandra Stebner plays Proctor’s servant, Mary Warren, expressing volumes of acting range. She overcame early jitters in her crucial role as one of the accusers.

Tom Smith as Rev. Hale, and C. Richard Haldi as Deputy-Governor Danforth, are brilliant bookends who lead the drumbeat at different points in the play. And Molly Galano, as John Proctor’s wife, stands tall by exposing her character’s anguish with controlled emotion, not rage.

There are other noteworthy performers: Sam Luptak Jr. as litigious townsman Giles Corey, and Barbara Malizia as Rebecca Nurse, to name a few.

The entire group of teen girls acted in unison, like they were possessed, in the courtroom scene in the second act. And Joyce A. Jones was wonderful as the “witch” Tituba, using a spot-on Barbados accent that was in sharp contrast to the townies.

The simple black-and-white Puritan clothes made by costume maker Pam Sacui add to the sense that there is no shade of gray in Salem.

As with any opening night, there were flaws, including some long set changes encumbered by the small stage with its limited access points, and one character whose head-down humbleness appeared to be a ruse to read her lines.

But they were minor notes in a “Crucible” that delivers far more than just a good scare.

X“The Crucible will be performed at 2 p.m. today, Oct. 26 and Nov. 2; 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Oct. 31 and Nov. 1; and at midnight Oct. 25 and Nov. 1. The Victorian Players Theatre is at 702 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown (across from Flynn’s Tires). Call (330) 746-5455.