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St. Thomas University Media Release Communications
and Media Relations |
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February 16, 2005 THEATRE ST. THOMAS PRESENTS Fredericton – Theatre St. Thomas will be performing Arthur Miller’s emotionally charged drama about the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem, The Crucible. The show runs Wednesday, February 23rd to Saturday, February 26th in the Black Box Theatre at St. Thomas University. The show starts at 8 PM each night and there is a Saturday, February 26th matinee starting at 1:00 PM. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and will be available at the door. The Crucible looks at two historical events linked in American history through their paranoia and horror – the Salem witch trials and Senator McCarthy’s Un-American Activities Committee during the 1950s. The play’s power lies in its ability to be re-interpreted to fit any time period. Its fertile themes – the lure of power, the gullibility of those who believe they have a moral imperative, the need to accept responsibility for the consequences of all actions, and the nature of truth – are universal in scope. At the center of a conflict of names, beliefs and regrets are John Proctor, a respected Salem farmer, and Abigail Williams, a malicious teenager with whom he has committed adultery. When Abigail manipulates the court in an effort to condemn John’s wife Elizabeth, the haunted husband must fight the narrow-minded judges of the puritan theocratic government for his wife’s life. Mr. Miller, who passed away earlier this month, was described as a “sleepless social conscience” and was one of the great playwrights of the 20th century. In 1953, he received a Tony award for The Crucible and had previously won a Pulitzer prize for Death of A Salesman. The play, with a cast of 20, is directed by Theatre St. Thomas Co-ordinator Ilkay Silk, and features sound design by Mike Doherty and lighting design by Chris Saad. Media Contacts – For further information, contact Ilkay Silk at 452-0605 or silk@stu.ca |
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