Review: The Crucible @ Lichfield Garrick

Oct 28, 2011 by Phil Preece

Sometimes I think we don’t know how lucky we are in Lichfield. For those of us interested in the arts there’s an awful lot going on for a city of its size. We especially have a wealth of drama productions, some by visiting professionals but many more instigated by church groups, schools, village associations, and groups of friends.

There are new plays, revivals, pantomimes, the Mysteries, Intimate Theatre’s little gems, Comic Relapse and Festival Fringe events – the list goes on and on. The jewel in the crown however must be the Lichfield Players who for decades now have kept the spirit of serious drama alive in their high quality productions, sometimes against great odds.

The term “amateur” has associations in some minds with inept enthusiasts murdering obscure works with more energy than taste. In my experience The Players instead have offered consistently high quality work covering a wide range of world drama. With their latest production, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, they’ve reached a peak many professional companies struggle to attain. This is a reflection not only of the Player’s commitment to theatre, but of a genuine love for and faithfulness to the work itself.

The Crucible was written in America in the early 1950s at the height of the McCarthy trials that tried to ferret out high-profile communist sympathisers. Yet instead of seeming dated Miller’s masterwork seems even more potent sixty years on. Slyly setting his tale in the deeply religious New England of 1692, the playwright was able to discuss contemporary events without ostensibly referring to them. But his tale of the terrible effects of ignorance, credulity, malicious gossip and rampant self-seeking in a small, narrow-minded community is universal and stands as a terrible warning that any orthodoxy may oppress.

Even in this accomplished cast some performances stand out. A strong performance by Eve Fehilly as the disruptive Abigail Williams helped make the cruel unfolding of this drama seem utterly logical and convincing. Pauline Fowler gave the performance of a lifetime as Rebecca Nurse, the genuinely good grandmother condemned by her moral inferiors. Don Harris as Giles Corey whose thoughtless remarks condemn his own wife brilliantly expressed the resulting bitter self-knowledge.

Hannah Freeman as Elizabeth Proctor perfectly caught the dilemma of a wife for whom love at each turn involves an ugly moral choice. Relative newcomer Lydia Clements was a revelation as her maidservant Mary Warren – I look forward to seeing any of her performances in the future.

In the courtroom scene Stephen Brunton gave a commanding performance that grew in power as the magisterial outsider Deputy Governor Danforth whose instinct for justice is blinkered by his fatal adherence to the black and white certainties of the law.

I’ve seen this play several times and observed that directors find it hard to marshal the mechanics of the last act convincingly. But in the intimacy of the Garrick Studio David Stonehouse harnesses the power of emotion generated by these fine actors into an endgame which held me totally in thrall. The nobility of John Proctor’s heroic sacrifice for truth in Chris Stanley’s brilliant portrayal produced an unforgettable moment in the Player’s history. This is totally truthful acting of a rare order.

Birmingham Evening Mail

This gripping Arthur Miller playabout the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 has given the Players the perfect vehicle to display their acting talents. Staged in the intimate setting of the theatre's studio, it reveals how easy it was, in Massachusetts during those difficult times, foranyone to be falsely accused of withccraft and be hanged.

The story focuses on one of the sinister witch-hunts sparked by young girls seen dancing in the woods at night, and farmer John Proctor finds himself embroiled in a desperate clash with the authorities when his innocent wife is mischievously accused of wrong-doing.

Chris Stanley gives a powerful performance as Proctor, whose past affair with young Abigail Williams leads to a situation where his life is in danger too, and he faces a critical decision when invited to sign a confession of witchcraft which could save his life but lose his self-esteem.

Steve Brunton is totally convincing as Deputy Governor Danforth, the man with power over life and death in Salem, and there are fine contributions from Eve Fehilly (Abigail), Ian Parkes (Rev. Samuel Parris), Hannah Freeman (Elizabeth Proctor) and Don Harris (Giles Corey). Directed by David Stonehouse. The Crucible continues to boil until Saturday 5th November.

VERDICT ***

Paul Marston

THEATRE REVIEW by Tony Wood

Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Lichfield Players at the Lichfield Garrick Studio

Powerful, penetrating and profound – Lichfield Players purposeful interpretation of Arthur Miller’s classic ‘the Crucible’, the dramatisation of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in 1692. This classic was play written as an allegory of McCarthyism in the USA around 1950. Miller goes straight to the heart of suspected witchcraft, the fear, the tension in a community and within families, the whole conflict. there in the Studio theatre. The audience’s almost reticence to applaud between acts showed how absorbed they had become.

The plot is complex, the minister (Ian Parkes) unliked by his flock, is concerned about his reputation and his sick child. Other children are older but are they really possessed and ‘seeing things’ or in fact more evil in their pretence? Central to the drama is not only the judges and investigators of witch craft but also the tension between John Proctor and his conscience, his wife and family. Chris Stanley takes us into this character and his adultery with Abigail Williams. Is she trying to have revenge? There were strong roles for Eve Fehilly (Abigail) and Hannah Freeman (Proctor's wife). Proctor faces a final struggle between a wrongful confession to have worshipped the devil and his execution.

The setting, the costumes, the large and talented cast all created the awesome scene. How could people behave like this to each other? David Stonehouse brought all that Miller intended to this production of the Crucible – no mean feat.