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