Powerhouse performs The Crucible

For a play that is set in the late 17th century and debuted on Broadway in 1953, The Crucible remains timely.

Bryan Halperin, director of an upcoming production opening Oct. 11 at Laconia’s Colonial Theatre, explained The Crucible‘s enduring quality in a recent phone interview.

“It’s a meaty drama about the seedier elements of human nature, a gripping, exciting, dramatic play about power, greed and lust,” he said. “It’s got elements of all the deadly sins.”

Because it deals with the Salem Witch Trials, Arthur Miller’s Tony-winning work is frequently staged in October, but The Crucible is far from a Halloween show. Rather, it’s about power, and how even a small taste can affect those who do not have it.

Throughout, Miller blends the historical record and dramatic license, beginning with the basic fact of four women accused of witchcraft after they’re caught dancing in the woods. In prisoner’s dilemma fashion, they turn against each other.

Tituba, a slave, claims to be a victim of a curse cast by two members of the group. She’s egged on by the men investigating, and the ringleader, Abigail Williams, goes along with her story, hoping to cover up that the event was born from her lover’s jealousy.

Approval from the town fathers changes the dynamic “They’re afraid of going to hell for sinning, they’re literally almost scared to death,” Halperin said. “Suddenly it gets turned around to, ‘All we’ve got to do is say what they want us to say, and we won’t get in any trouble; we’ll be praised for it.’ That’s a very powerful drug.”

Miller drew on a 20th-century “witch hunt” when he wrote The Crucible: the Senate hearings held to root out communism led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Some versions of the play are explicit about this element and include a narration comparing the Puritan era to post-WWII America.

Halperin sees the parallels. “Watching how society can quickly break down in a fit of hysteria when people learn to use the system for their own gain, at the expense of their friends and neighbors,” he observed, is “gripping for 1692, and it’s equally gripping for 2024 — as it was in 1954.”

The Crucible is Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative’s first stage play after a year and a half of doing musicals. Leading the cast are Kenny Aber as John Proctor, Laura Iwaskiewicz as his wife Elizabeth, and Amanda Wagner as Abigail, an orphan and former servant who was sent away after she had an affair with John.

Wagner is a St. Louis-born actress who moved to New Hampshire after 10 years working in Los Angeles. She said in a recent phone interview that portraying Abigail has been a goal of hers since reading The Crucible in 10th grade.“She’s a very complex person,” she said. “She’s a villain, but also a victim of her circumstances.”

She offered a take on the question answered earlier by Halperin. “This play feels so timely because groupthink and saying the truth in the face of what the majority is saying even if it’s going to get you killed is a terrifying thing,” she said. “It is strange to me that that’s a lesson that some people don’t want their teenagers taught.”

As a relative newcomer to the region, Wagner enjoys the atmosphere at Powerhouse and she is particularly grateful for its founders, Halperin and his wife, Johanna.

“Everyone is so supportive of one another,” she said. “Some of the actors have to go into some dark places, but Bryan does a good job of keeping things light. I always leave rehearsal with a smile on my face and feeling exhilarated, albeit tired. I want to give props to the company for doing some incredibly professional-level work.”

The Crucible
When: Friday, Oct. 11, and Saturday, Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 13, 2 p.m.
Where: Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia
Tickets: $18 to $22 at etix.com

Featured image: Abigail Williams (Amanda Wagner) begs John Proctor (Kenny Aber) to give her a kind word. Courtesy photo.