This winter, the Theater Arts Drama classes performed The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials events of 1692 Massachusetts. In these times, the world of a young girl was grim and uneventful. The likes of Abigail, Mercy, Susanna and the others find their fun dancing in the woods, learning ecstatic songs and exotic charms from Tituba, and getting excited about being told their future. All is fun and games until the innocent playful ruses get trapped in the tapestry of religious dogma. The girls become instruments of religious oppression, their lies are celebrated, their honesty dismissed in the name of right at all costs bigotry.
The students, directed by their teacher, Raluca Georgiana Shields, focused on developing characters, their interwoven relationships, as well as immersing the audience into the world of the Puritan society in the 17th century, by including lullabies, hymns and slave songs from that time.
The cast was played by seniors Anthony Wenzel (Reverend Hale), Alexa Rabago (Mary), Joon Duran (Proctor), Yariliz Tapia (Abigail), Jolie Shenouda (Judge Danforth), and Jeyline Almonte (Elizabeth Proctor), juniors Sariah Rodriguez (Judge Hathorne), Macaela Silva (Mrs. Putnam), Madeleine Gonzalez (Mr. Putnam), Calleigh Vargas (Ruth), Sofia Lennon (Willard), Hager Hassan (Sarah Good), Ingrid Paucar (Betty), Naima Savre (Tituba), Anya Al Jabri (Rebecca Nurse), and Chloe Pogatsias (Martha Corey), sophomores Ezra Horn (Reverend Parris), Bei Lusky (Francis Nurse), Victoria Manzo (Mercy), Arlenis Almonte (Susanna), and Alicia Velez (Giles Corey), and freshmen Evani Parrek (Ensemble), Zoe Gandolfo (Ensemble) and Rosemary Granato (Cheever).
Our backstage crew consisted of senior Stefany Campos-Gomez, juniors Aisha Kublenu, Rime Nachath and Arianna Urgiles, and sophomore Bea Persson. Our lighting and sound technicians Robert Clavero and Eva Tamayo, our Assistant Stage Manager Stephy-yah-Marley St Georges and our Stage Manager Simone Pittman worked under the direction of Lighting Designer Aiden Mitchell and Technical Supervisor Chloe Jessen, under the guidance of our Technical Director Mr. Jeremy Falzone. Our Costume Designer senior Simone Pittman worked tirelessly on the costumes, alongside our Makeup Designer and Dramaturg Arianna Urgiles. Special thanks go to Ms. Lauren Cabrera and her AV team.
Ms. Shields would like to congratulate all the performers and crew for their outstanding work.
On a final note, we would like to remind anyone of the troubling events of 1692. The Puritan society of the time ignored grave warning signs at the expense of great suffering and human loss. It is important to all of us that we learn from history and don’t let such events happen again.
The play was performed by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)
