Rep has witchy-good timing with The Crucible

In time for Halloween, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre presents a tale of witches. An allegorical tale.

While the story line of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which won the 1953 Tony Award, centers on the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s, it was seen to be a depiction of the "Red Scare" witch hunts for Communist influences in America.

"When Miller wrote the play, it was the time of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings," says director Paul Barnes. "Sen. Joseph McCarthy was the main figure at the time, and there were questions about patriotism and intolerance and who would or would not 'name names' of the guilty ones.

"The play helps us in considering how quick we are to judge others and condemn people, and lump people together on the flimsiest of evidence."

Barnes is directing at The Rep for the first time. Based in Ashland, Ore., he has served as the education director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and is a founding producing director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival and a founding director of the Oregon Cabaret Theatre. His directing credits include Macbeth, Peter Pan, Of Mice and Men, The Glass Menagerie and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Only one of the major cast members has previous credits at The Rep: Michael Stewart Allen, whose roles here have included Macbeth, Wait Until Dark, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet and Grapes of Wrath. His role in The Crucible is that of John Proctor, a farmer who loses his honor as he tries to hide an affair with a woman.

"Miller came up with one of the great 'anti-heroes' with the character of Proctor," Allen says. "He was a good man who did a bad thing. His search for redemption makes this one of the roles I have dreamed of playing. Almost every character has a crisis of conscience because of their actions, as they try to choose whether to do the right thing or the easy thing."

Ryan McCarthy is cast as Reverend Parris, a power-hungry figure disliked by many of the Salem townsfolk.

"He's the spark that ignites the frenzy," McCarthy says. "He interprets the facts to support him, and he's the father of one of the children who become bewitched. The playwright has said that he hated this character."

Stephen Paul Johnson plays Deputy Governor Danforth, the presiding judge who is determined to root out witchcraft.

"My character is much like that of Sen. McCarthy, the ideologue, with the power of life and death," Johnson says. "He's the dynamo, the engine in hot pursuit of the devil."

Stephanie Lambourn plays Mary Warren, a timid servant girl who confesses to participating in witchcraft with other local girls, but who later recants her confession.

"My character is very confused," says Lambourn (a native of Brisbane, Australia). "She wants to fit in by following the group, versus forming her own ideas. She's not evil, but she's only 18, with no hope of ever having her own household or anything much. She has no understanding of doing the right thing, and she later says 'It was just sport in the beginning.'"

Technical director Mike Nichols created a simple, spare set that emphasizes a bland room and surroundings that suggests that the girls of Salem had very little to look forward to in their lives.

"In 1692, people lived hard lives on the edge of the wilderness, in a harsh climate," Barnes says. "People had little time for anything except survival and church services. When a group of teenage girls, who are entering into adolescence, come up against a strict society, the result is a dynamic, explosive situation."

The cast of 23 includes three local adult actors: Candyce B. Hinkle as Rebecca Nurse, Heather Dupree as Ann Putnam and Verda Davenport as Tituba.

Additional play performance events include:

At noon today, the Clinton School of Public Service Distinguished Speaker Series will present the Rep's Producing Artistic Director, John Miller-Stephany, as he moderates a discussion among members of the cast and creative team in a panel discussion of the play. To reserve seats, email publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or call (501) 683-5239.

At 6 p.m. today, the play's second preview performance will include Beer Night, provided by Lost Forty Brewing and the Arkansas Times.

Friday, the play's official opening night, there will be a post-show reception with the cast, featuring complimentary champagne and light hors d'oeuvres from RSVP Catering.

At 7 p.m. Sunday (only on Oct. 30), "Pay Your Age Night" will permit those between ages 22 and 40 to pay the equivalent of their age for a ticket. There are 100 such tickets available, and only four tickets per household will be sold, with proof of age for each person in a party required at the time of ticket pick-up. There will be a complimentary wine tasting provided by Colonial Wine and Spirits.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, there will be "Boo and Brew," with pre-show beer and pizza sponsored by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

At 6 p.m. Nov. 3, there will be Beer Night provided by Stone's Throw Brewery.

At 6:30 p.m. Nov. 4, there will be pre-show music in Foster's. No ticket is required.

The 7 p.m. Nov. 9 performance will be sign-interpreted by Raphael James of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He will be positioned in front of a new special section, and hearing impaired patrons are encouraged to contact the Rep box office to reserve seating.

On Nov. 12, following the evening performance, there will be an after-party, featuring drinks and appearances by cast members, in Foster's. Tickets are not required for the party.

Weekend on 10/27/2016