Read-Only, One-Night-Only Performance of ‘The Crucible’

ʻĪao Theater, courtesy photo.

A volunteer group of actors will present a free performance of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible on Monday, Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at the Historic ʻĪao Theater in Wailuku as part of the theater’s One-Night-Only (ONO) series.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

The play will be performed in a read-only voice format. All parts will be read from the script; the stage will be sparsely set.

The play is directed by Jennifer Rose.

The play is about 19 men and women and two dogs, who were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in a small village in eastern Massachusetts in 1692.

Their bodies were buried in shallow graves but their names were not forgotten.

In 1953, Miller’s play opened in New York to tell the story of what has become known as the Salem Witch Trials.

While The Crucible is about witchcraft and the tragic consequences of a failed love affair, it is also about much more, which is why the play has become Miller’s most performed.

Written during the peak of the McCarthy era of anti-communist controversy, it has been said that The Crucible is also about the breaking of the social contract that binds a community together as love and mutual respect bind individuals.

“The Crucible reminds of us of how fragile are the shared values that give us our sense of self and are the foundation of any society,” said Producer Tom Blackburn-Rodruquez. “It is also about the destruction that occurs when those values become a rigid ideology and the damage to society done when hysteria is made a part of that ideology.”

“It is great theater and a wonderful way to spend an evening,” said Blackburn-Rodriguez.