I directed this 3 times in high school, and it was a marvelous experience each time. I had enough males to play the male characters each time, and I increased the number of girls in the bewitched group in court.
Pro:
There are plenty of parts, some with few lines for newcomers.
U.S. History teachers cover HCUA and Joseph McCarthy, and many English teachers still teach
The Crucible, so you can expect some enthusiastic support from your faculty.
If you follow the practice of simply using furniture for the sets, you can build most of the furniture you can't find pretty easily. We used a honey stain on pine, which was really gorgeous against black drapery.
Con:
Danforth has an enormous amount of lines! Egad!
Costumes are a major consideration. Any shirts and knee britches you construct can be used in tons of other shows, but you have to factor in the price of fabric when looking to build skirts and dresses. Of course, if you have local community theatres or college theatre programs, they might be able to rent to you.
I do not know if Dramatists has a prohibition on using females to play male roles, but unless it is strictly prohibited, you might consider having girls play male roles as breeches parts--wearing male clothing to indicate gender, but not otherwise trying to look or sound male. I would certainly consider that an option, were I to direct it again.
------------------------------
CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
------------------------------