Horribly Good

With tears welling in my eyes, I (Angel) applauded during the curtain call, too stunned by what I had seen to rise for a much deserved ovation that only a few people were able to manage before the lights dimmed. Most of the actors in this show portrayed their characters so believably that I was completely drawn into the drama and terror of the witch trials. Most notably, Greg Athans as John Proctor, Steve Bornstein as Judge Danforth, Sara Tode as Abigail Williams, Christopher Verdi as Reverend Parris, and Danielle Perry as Mary Warren gave truly exceptional performances. The rest of the cast was also well suited to their roles and lent to the believability and strength of the overall show.

The show opened uniquely with the actors filing in from the upper stairs to encircle the audience and sing an eery hymnlike song as Reverend Parris, played by Christopher Verdi, prayed kneeling beside a chair lit to show the ornate carvings on the chair in shadow on the wall. This immediately set the tone and mood for the events to follow. Lighting was used effectively throughout the show. Regular Lighting Director, Yael Lubetszky, has some interesting techniques in this show. As day breaks on the hanging day of John Proctor and Goody Nurse, light grew brighter and brighter from faint predawn shadows to more and more sunlight, bringing greater terror with each increase in sunlight.

The set, created by Richard Chambers, also added to the mood and proper setting. A wooden hanging roof structure suspended by thick ropes is elegant and simple. Though probably very secure, this lent terror to the piece with the thought of its potential crashing down on the heads of the actors. The huge backwall of vertical wood planks all dyed different shades is quite amazing in this small theater. The floor is also laid patterned woodwork - both the raised stage in the center and the edging around it. With very little other set than a few benches, a table, and a cot for one scene, the floor and wall are most important for creating a clear poignant feeling and setting.

One thing that disturbed us both was the confusion over the space created by the raised stage. In most cases, there was clearly one entrance to the room that the raised part identified, and this entrance location changed depending which room the scene took place in. That was good. However, actors seemed able to see through the invisible yet implied walls of the room to the outside or the outer "halls" of the courthouse, and had no problem talking right through these walls. In some scenes, for instance at the courthouse, the reporter sat on the lower part of the stage and was spoken to directly. Nevertheless, when others entered the same room, they travelled around it a certain way and entered the implied doorway beside him. Willing suspension of disbelief depends on consistency as well as believability, and this inconsistency of the walls were there, but they're not really there, was very difficult to reconcile.

The scene near the beginning where the girls- Abigail, Mercy, and Mary talk about their dancing in the woods was well acted. Abigail's threats to Mary were taken seriously. Betty, played by Alyssa Yonkin, did a great job acting hysterically panicked with terror.

Steve Bornstein as the Deputy Governor (Judge) Danforth, shined most brightly in the scene where John Proctor tries to convince him the girls are pretending the whole thing. Bornstein has a holier-than-thou attitude that won't quit and his closed minded wickedness in the name of justice made us hate him with a passion. This scene was great from beginning to end, starting with the fury of Giles, played by Budd Peters, (in real life a decendant of Samuel Wardwell, the twelfth person to be hanged in the Salem witch trials), to Proctor's testimony and Mary's constant panicked crying as she tried to tell the truth, to the girls pretending to be attacked by Mary's spirit, to the inquiry of Goody Proctor, played by Birgit Huppach, as to her husband's lechery.

In this time of being damned if you were and damned if you weren't, it was safer to admit you were, even if you were not, in order to save your neck. Unfortunately (as I see it), some of the accused were too faithful to their religion and their honor to confess to something they didn't do and hanged for these "sins". The show's ending was quite moving with each name of those hanged spoken aloud slowly and solemnly by individual members of the ensemble, who again encircled the audience. As each name was spoken, a drum beat and Goody Proctor collapsed a bit more, echoing the devastation felt by at least some in the audience.

Go, See, Feel, Think, and Remember. Thank you, SRT.

~ÅNGEL
and Patrick

Cast

Production Crew

entire contents © 1998 by "Angel"