Open Forum

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

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Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
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I have.  I used townspeople in the house in the first scene.  They had heard what was happening and were there for comfort or just nosy. 

And extra girls as well.  

They were also bystanders in the arrests. 

I also used them in the court scenes as extras. And they watched the hanging. 

I had a skeletal set and a very big stage to work with.

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Marcie Berglund
Washington Cty. Schools Play Coach
Musical, One Act, Spring Play
Woodbury, Minnesota
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 13:29
From: Laura Russo
Subject: Crucible Ensemble

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

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Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
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It has been many, many years since I directed The Crucible. This is what I recall: I had done a great deal of research, and cast many girls ( 10 - 12 ) as part of Abby's group. They were all given the names of the actual girls involved so they could research them for character analysis.  I had them all in the court room scenes - which made those moments far more effective due to the numbers of girls who would start to react.  In fact their nickname during rehearsals was "the screaming girls."

We started the play with a dark scene in the forest with Tituba and all the girls (as a pre-show movement piece) to help the audience see what really happened. Some of the "screaming girls" helped the House Crew before the show (and were in costume and character)  passing out programs, collecting tickets, welcoming people to Salem, etc.  So when it was time to start the pre-show, they entered the theatre from the back and approached the stage for the forest scene. It worked very well.

Never have enough guys, so I was not able to add anyone there, I just had enough to fill the male roles. 

This is a powerful piece of theatre, and very timely today with our political environment. 
Best of luck with your production!

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Valerie Farschman, Drama Director
MLS Theatre Company, Troupe 1422
Marion L Steele High School
Amherst, Ohio
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 13:29
From: Laura Russo
Subject: Crucible Ensemble

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

------------------------------
Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
------------------------------

I did the show recently.  We used all of our extra girls to make the courtroom scene spookier.   Adding people in every act shouldn't be difficult.  The play calls for the townspeople to be nosy (and afraid).  If I may offer an unsolicited idea that I wish had occurred to me while I was directing the show (sadly it only occurred to me as I was pondering your question), have the extra actors research/choose an actual person from Salem to use as a character basis.  It might make the students feel less like extra warm bodies, but the real reason is that ALL of the characters in this show are so well constructed.  Herrick, the drunk guard at the end, has DEPTH.  Susanna Walcott has depth.  It's an amazing thing about this play.    Challenge your actors to create characters with that kind of depth, even if they aren't originally in the script.
Plus, sharpening research skills is always good, too.
Break a leg!,

Stuart Graham
Heights High School
Wichita KS

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Stuart Graham
Wichita KS
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 13:29
From: Laura Russo
Subject: Crucible Ensemble

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

------------------------------
Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
------------------------------

Original Message------

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

------------------------------
Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
------------------------------

I have also added ensemble to THE CRUCIBLE, similar to what Marcie did.  It is a great way to allow actors, usually the younger ones, to practice and perform physical acting.  After a classroom research project, I allowed the older students to choose "town personality types" to make sure we had diverse group.  It worked very well.

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Kathy Siler
Theatre Educator
Payson Unified Schools
Payson AZ
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 13:29
From: Laura Russo
Subject: Crucible Ensemble

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

------------------------------
Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
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Thanks All!  I am taking all of your suggestions and it looks like I can push the cast to 35 this way!

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Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 13:29
From: Laura Russo
Subject: Crucible Ensemble

I am wondering if anyone has successfully added ensemble members to The Crucible?  I usually look to cast at least 30 in my fall production and the play has 20 roles.  I already plan on adding a few more girls to the scenes with Abigail and perhaps two guards to escort prisoners to and from the cell at the end of Act II.  Any other ideas?

------------------------------
Laura Russo
Teacher/Director of Theatre Arts
School District of The Chathams
Chatham NJ
------------------------------