The_Crucible

Elements of Production - Major Performance The Crucible is commonly perceived as a complex work, thematically using characters and setting, to establish Miller’s parallelism; my initial misgivings of performing such a classic example of American literature concerned me until the performances itself, but the experience was very rewarding. I gained insight on how to work cooperatively in a group of people with a diverse range of skills, whilst learning new skills in performance. The characterization, team work, constructive criticisms, and music elements of this production helped me to understand my strengths and weaknesses as a performer. Throughout the entire creative process, the character of Tituba was dynamic and interesting. After reading The Crucible, I recognized her immediately as a victim of Abigail’s plot, but I also found her as a “relief” from the dreary realism of Salem life. Her diverse cultural beliefs from the society of which she had been enslaved, creates another perspective for the audience. Tituba can also be perceived as a catalyst: Without Tituba’s confession to Reverend Hale, it is improbable that Abigail would have been supported by the other girls while her defense was so weak. Prior even to this cataclysmic event, was Tituba’s conjuring; despite its visual absence in the play, it has an essential role in cause depicted in scene 1, establishing a plotline. Without Parris’ interference in this preface, then The Crucible would have no cause. I believe Miller intended Tituba to represent the group of elected officials who agreed to the (communist) accusations against other parties in order to salvage their careers. In this light, Tituba can be perceived, not as a victim, but as a reflection of the malevolent nature of politics that swept America during the 1950’s. As an actor, it was very hard to medium both perceptions (of victim/ perpetrator) into the small performance time, but I resolved to depict Tituba as both; she was the typical victim, but I utilized her ethnicity as a means to portray her “darker” side. This was not to degrade the Barbados culture, but it was the only opportunity to express Miller’s intent of parallelism. I tried to create a sinister character trait by emphasizing certain script: “How man times he bid me kill you Mr. Parris….He say Mr. Parris must be kill!….He bid me rise out of my bed and cut your throat!” [Act 1, The Crucible, Arthur Miller] This exert demonstrates a violence in Tituba which I wanted to show that even the victim has flaws. This small monologue needed to be believable, in the sense that Tituba had actually dreamed of an entity commanding her to murder her master, though not necessarily the Devil himself; I perceive Tituba as a converted Christian, but I wanted to emphasize the fact that religion does not eradicate sinful thought. Although Tituba is a vulnerable character, I believe this was the point in the script that truly made her human – her flaws. The Prologue was a creation of Mrs Jones to help break away from realism, while visually depicting the motivation of the characters, which is a very important aspect as the The Crucible is a character driven text. Without this added scene, I think the cast would struggle to show the reasoning of their character, as the script is incredibly difficult and somewhat dated. But with the assistance of the Prologue, a level of insight to newcomers to the play was established. Out of the entire play, this was where I was least comfortable, but learnt the most. I find I am extremely self-conscious when interpretive movement is involved as I have had minimal experience in such areas. It was a great opportunity for me to create new skills, and allowed me to collaborate and seek guidance from Matilda who choreographed the movement for the scene. After several rehearsals of the Prologue, I became increasingly confident after useful direction from Mrs Jones, and I elaborated movement accordingly to character development. The Barbados vocals created a believable connection to Tituba’s native culture as did her accent, whilst adding a mysterious secrecy to intrigue the audience. The biggest difficulty I face with the role is based mainly on group interaction. I often felt overly dramatic, particularly in Scene 1, as I had little response to reciprocate with the cast. Yet it made more sense for Tituba to be terrified as she faced the possibility of execution, so after receiving positive feedback from the director, I decided that the fear Tituba felt had to be derived from something the audience couldn’t see: her past. Josh and I worked extensively to create a master/slave relationship between the two characters, by creating aggression from Reverend Parris, and subservience from Tituba. The spectators are only made aware of this right at the beginning of Act 1 when Parris screams at her, “Get OUT!” [Act 1, The Crucible, Arthur Miller]. This was a crucial establishment for me, and after listening to feedback after the performance it was seemingly effective. Over the years I have developed a tendency for intricate details and ascertaining reasons for motivation, a trait adopted from NIDA courses, but it frustrated me when it was difficult to apply. However, with advice from various cast members and the dramaturges (Jones, Tuting), motivation was made easier through physical dynamic. The school production was extremely different to any external production I have ever participated in; there were varied levels of commitment and ability amongst students. However there was a very strong sense of kinship that was often displayed, especially the comradeship shown to others who had erred onstage. Unlike professional theatre, the school cast never indicated that a faux pas was not their fault, but others. Also, the crew, dramaturge, director etc were all recognized by both the cast and the audience, evidence of the supportive nature and sense of community amongst both the students and teachers. The most enjoyable part of this production was the exploration of personal skill and boundaries, and overcoming self-consciousness. At the beginning of the year I was highly concerned that my acting ability would be inadequate as I had missed two elective years of Drama. After several rehearsals I was quite relieved to find I could keep up with the class and contribute my ideas effectively with my peers. The collaboration between the crew and cast was a positive experience as everyone was civil to one another, a far cry from most productions. The crew had to learn their way around the set and props very quickly, and the cast would often take time to aid them, just as the stage hands would always agree to help the actors learn their lines. Everybody put aside their differences with each other and worked hard to produce as professional a show as could be managed under the time constraints. Another highly enjoyable process was the musicianship required by me and Maddeline in Act 3. Having never played a jambeau before, I was forced to quickly find a means of playing it; although I still struggle with the instrument, I have improved a great deal with the help of Maddie (she plays the drums), and by the performance we had established when to play. Unfortunately, due to limited rehearsals, we both decided to play minimally so as not to undermine the acting, as some people were still struggling with lines and volume. Ideally, more music towards the end of the act would have created a more intense scene, assisting with the climaxing pattern of the play, but there were too many restrictions at the time. For our last performance of The Crucible I hope to remedy this issue, and seek assistance from an experienced musician for advice on how to play the jambeau. The stress of whether other cast members had learnt their lines and the short time-frame was unnecessary; although the performances themselves were not wholly professional, everyone had achieved a goal on a personal level, whether it was to learn their lines, raise their voices, or use greater body dynamic, and the cast were proud of the product of all our hard work over the few weeks we had. Most of the production process was enjoyable, although I found “warm up” sessions before performances tedious and unnecessary. They did not seem to have an objective other than rituality, granted the class greatly enjoyed these moments. The only warm up I appreciated was led by Mrs. Jones before the last performance, as it created personal focus, which was needed more so than the previous night as we did not have an entire day to focalize on drama. The only other aspect I could critique was the lack of commitment displayed by several cast members. It has set a precedent against them, as now nobody in our class wants to jeopardize their marks by being grouped with them in the future. These were the hardest people to work with, and they frustrated the dedicated pupils who diligently came to all the rehearsals and classes; as a result, the creative process was slowed-down as production waited for these people to catch up with the information they had missed out on during valuable rehearsal time. In learning from this experience, stress is an unneeded pressure in this situation, on yourself and others. On a personal level, the creative process could have been lengthened if I had personally ensured that my lines were learnt within the week I had received them. If I had taken the time to do this, I would have had one less thing to worry about, and more time to focus on the dramaturgy of my character. In addition, I think everyone would have benefited if the performance was taken seriously by the cast at the beginning of the process, so there would be less of a frenzied panic at the end of the production. To ensure this in the future, I would like to take a more active part amongst the cast members and assist them with their lines, particularly with people with larger roles and heavier responsibilities. Also, I would like to utilize all the equipment the Drama department has to offer, and learn how to work in the tech room, so as to be aware of the responsibilities the crew and director face so I can appreciate all the hard work in all aspects of the theatre. Both teachers made many valid suggestions, all of which greatly assisted me in difficult areas. Small suggestions like hesitating at the door before entering in Act 1(as opposed to an awkward entrance), and staring accusingly at the audience in Act 4 (“It’s you folks! You riles him up around here…”) created a heightened sense of drama and eeriness to my character. Whenever the director brought an issue to my attention I would labor over it for hours in front of the mirror at home to try to eradicate the problem, although in hindsight this was a little extensive and overtly obsessive. The feedback from the audience was generally positive, but all criticisms I was made aware of I think are relevant and beneficial for the June performance. Everybody who saw the play had high expectations of the class, as it contains many focused drama students, which may have contributed to some of the adverse observations. Here are some of the comments I have heard: - * The Crucible requires extensive energy; unlike most other plays, it does not have regular climaxes. Instead, the show starts with moderate to high energy in Act 1, gradually increasing during the progression of the play. A few people had commented on several subdued moments in the play (often caused by forgotten lines or little dynamic) as tedious, when those particular moments should have been highly compelling and packed with relevant information. * The overall acting ability was mature at times and added depth to characters. * The Prologue was highly entertaining and set a good precedent. * The play was much too lengthy and sophisticated to compel the younger part of the audience. * Some set changes were too long. * The surrealism was amplified by the Afrikaners music by the musicians, as well as the set change music, which created a reprieve from the intensity of the play, although the music was sometimes too loud. * Vocally, there was too much shouting, and girls tended to have a high pitched tone and rushed the dialogue, making important parts of the script inaudible. The 2010 production of The Crucible was a fantastic opportunity to develop skills and friendships, and created a good environment to accept constructive criticisms from audiences and learn about ways we could all improve, as both a group and as individuals. Fortunately, our class has the opportunity to further extend upon external insight for our extra performance at the school later this year.