The crucible by Arthur Miller - Essay Example

The Crucible: Analysis of a Theater Play It was a Friday at the Caminito Theatre, LACC College, at approximately 8 o’clock in the evening when I went to a theater for the first time. I was there for about 3 enjoyable hours, and during the whole time, I was watched amazedly at the whole event happening around me. I am admittedly not yet very knowledgeable in theater plays, so I will be analyzing the play and the production from a first-timer’s standpoint. It is a good thing that the play is a widely-known play by playwright Arthur Miller, “The Crucible,” as it allowed me to focus more on analysis rather than in understanding the story.

The play is directed by Louie Piday and produced by Kevin Morrissey. The scenic design is by Kevin Morrissey, lighting design by Jim Moody, costume design by Lauren Fonville and Beata Bissett-Tyski, and sound design by Vern Yonemura. Kevin Diep is the production stage manager. The theater has 99 seats in the Black Box on a plain platform. It has been personally observed that the actors did not use real food and were just pretending to be eating during some parts of the play. Additionally, the sound effect of “wind” when something weird happens is as weird as the situation.

The whole play was happening at the center of the theater, and I was sitting at the far side, and the view was somewhat tricky either due to the lighting or the seat location. The theater’s furniture was also somewhat lacking, as it did not exert effort for extra furniture for the benefit of the audience who were sitting across the “center stage.” As a brief backgrounder on the story, “The Crucible” is set in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. In the story, several village girls became victims of seizures and hallucinations, and the occurrences are attributed to works of the devil.

Fears of witchcraft spread across the place, and other villagers begin accusing their neighbors of casting spells and dealing with the devil. Since the government is heavily ruled by religion, dozens of people go to jail due to these accusations. Approximately 19 people are hanged after trial, not counting some animals that are also accused of witchery. The costumes appeared to be well-prepared, giving a feel of the puritan era. The acting was also superb throughout the play, demonstrating good acting direction.

However, since the play was set at the center of the theater, there sometimes appeared to be some issues with the blocking of the actors. The lighting could also use more creativity to highlight the “stage” without blocking a good view from the audience seated at different parts of the theater. Additionally, even though the costumes were applaud-able, some props --- like furniture and food --- could still use some improvement. The sound was generally good, save for a couple of weird wind sounds when something peculiar happens.

Overall, the play is enjoyable, probably due to the fact that the story itself is incredible. “The Crucible” is definitely worth watching in any form, whether play or movie, and even though some aspects of this play did not do the great literature enough justice, the story itself more than made up for what was lacking in the scenic, lighting, and sound designs.