‘Crucible’ ambitious

Press, 31 May 1982, Page 6

‘Crucible’ ambitious

“The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller. Produced by the University of Canterbury Drama Society and directed by Paul Bushnell, at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre, May 28 to June 5, 8 p.m. Running time: 150 minutes. Reviewed by Philip Norman.

The setting is Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. Witchhysteria is aflame, sparked off by adolescent prevarication, fanned by the hypocrisy of the Puritan ethic, and fuelled by the desire to settle old scores.

It is an age-old ploy for wreaking vengeance on enemies or for discrediting competitors. Every society has its bogymen, whether they.be supernatural demons, Russian spies, or members of the -Socialist Unity Party. Shout long and hard enough about the evils of such bogies and mob rule allows intolerance to give way to irrationality in the name of good. On a small scale, this ploy can be seen in the “at every word a reputation dies” kind of backyard tittle-tattle: on a large scale it can result in

something as frightening as McCarthyism politics. “The Crucible” was written at the height of Senator McCarthy’s He on communism. Jr’s allegory in the play is oblique, but damning. Saging “The Crucible" is an ambitious undertaking. It is a play which would stretch any theatre company’s resources to the full, for not only is a large cast (ranging from adolescents to octogenarians) called for, but also the lead roles require strong and commanding performances to be convincing. There were no weak links in the University Drama Society’s line-up of actors. Each member of the company played the alotted role credibly and adroitly, although sometimes, in spite of lashings of make-up, it was difficult visually to separate the children from the adults in the play. Conversely, there were no strong focal points in the cast, excepting perhaps Miranda Harcourt as the scheming Abigail Williams.

Paul Gregory Hunt as Parris, Rupert Ward as John Proctor, Debbie Hall as Elizabeth Proctor, Tony Nightingale as Hale, Alistair Fletcher as Giles Corey, Nic Farra as Danforth, and Faith Oxenbridge as Mary Warren all worked well and hard in their respective major roles, lacking only the maturity and depth of characterisation that experience can bring. Convincingly to underline the tensions that form the nucleus of the play requires an acting bag of tricks containing more than just variable speed and volume knobs Jfor the voice.- ; The director, Paul Bushnell, kept the pace cracking along, ; never allowing momentum to .slacken. The actors must, though, be careful of their tendency to gabble as tension mounts. Articulation is all important. In all, though, a credible and competent interpretation of a demanding work. A case of ambition tantalisingly close, to paying off.