From a UW press release:
The University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance opens the 2009-2010 production season with Arthur Miller's "The Crucible."
Performances can be seen Sept. 29-Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. on the Fine Arts Main Stage. Tickets cost $14 for the public, $11 for senior citizens and $7 for students. For tickets and information call (307) 766-6666 or visit www.uwyo.edu/finearts.
Directed by assistant professor John O'Hagan, "The Crucible" is both a historical play and timely allegory of political and religious intolerance. Based on actual people and events, the play is a portrait of the mass hysteria that led to the witch-hunts and trials in 17th century Salem, Mass.
"The Crucible" also examines human nature and the extremes to which individuals will go to enforce social norms and beliefs.
"I was drawn to the play because of its emotionally powerful content and its universality in depicting the conflicts between belief and reality and the individual and society," says O'Hagan. "This is an incredibly moving story about what happens when a community breaks charity with itself."
Miller wrote "The Crucible" in response to Senator McCarthy's "House Un-American Activities Committee" hearings in the 1950s and the anti-Communist hysteria that gripped the nation. Miller himself was later questioned by the committee and found in contempt of Congress for failing to identify other potential Communist sympathizers.
A pre-show panel discussion led by UW faculty members Peter Parolin, Bob Torrey, Jeannie Holland and Kent Drummond will be held Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m. on the Fine Arts Main Stage. The discussion will center on the historical situation of "The Crucible," its use as a metaphor for the McCarthy era and its lasting influence on literature and dramatic literature. The discussion is free and open to the public.
