|
Joining the recent blooming of Miller fervor, two University groups are presenting productions of "The Crucible" and "All My Sons" this semester. The School of Music's department of musical theater is performing a studio production of "The Crucible" this weekend and UAC's Rude Mechanicals will set the Mendelssohn stage next month with post-WWII trauma as they highlight the tragedy-stricken lives of Joe Keller and his family in "All My Sons."
Possibly sparking the interest in Miller's works are plans for the University's Arthur Miller Theater. Although no definite details can be confirmed, the edifice is expected to begin construction by autumn of 2000. Last semester, an English literature course titled "The Stages of Arthur Miller" was offered for the first time in the department's curriculum. Prof. Enoch Brater described it as "the first of its kind, ever, in the world."
It seems that Arthur Miller, the greatest living American playwright, is making his way home. The University's most famous and intriguing alumnus, Miller is also the world's most produced playwright, beating out William Shakespeare. He began his writing career while under the guidance of University theater professor Kenneth Thorpe Rowe before graduating with an English lit degree in 1938. His first big success didn't come until 1947 when "All My Sons" gave him a name and a pocketbook.
The playwright is known for his tragic drama, defined as unique to the American theater because of its insistence upon a common human realism - his plays don't entertain as much as they provoke an audience to cast some self-doubt and personal examination. He was a student of the Ibsen style of playwrighting, one in which the common man is subjected to heightened downfalls and personal tragedies. He is an American playwright because he, in his own words: "is a Darwinian who had learned to expect no mercy (although he might still secretly hope for a little)."
But there are no heroes in Arthur Miller's dramas. There are no definite antagonists and protagonists, save society itself. In "Death of a Salesman," Willy Loman cannot be blamed for his personal failures, but neither can his son, Biff. One question that arises in this and many other of Miller's works is "Who is to take responsibility? Who is at fault?" The two groups of students who are presenting "The Crucible" and "All My Sons" will attempt to answer those questions.
"The Crucible" examines the witch trials of Salem, Mass. near the end of the 17th Century. Miller concentrates on the moral reasoning for such a horrific event by brilliantly recreating the lives of the women and men who caused such spiritual commotion. Written in 1953 during Joe McCarthy's House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings, "The Crucible" was Miller's artistic throwback to the paranoia surrounding a too conservative American government. After appearing before the committee numerous times to defend himself of purported Communist activities, Miller used his pen - the greatest weapon - to confront the silly attacks.
The citizens of 17th Century Salem were second generation Calvinists, a religious breed whose beliefs rested solely on a strict interpretation of an already too-structured theology. Abigail, the inflamed anti-heroine of "The Crucible," engages in a love affair with Goodman John Proctor, a local farmer. When Abigail is thrown out of the Proctor stead by justifiably jealous Good Wife Proctor, Abby seeks to destroy them through false accusations of witchcraft and black magic.
"He doesn't see the societal responsibility in himself. I think a lot of people today would weigh on their shoulders the decision he made. He experiences a moment of truth that very rarely strikes any of us," Music sophomore Robert Rokicki said of John Proctor, the character he portrays in the show.
The decision to perform "The Crucible" was made by theater and drama Prof. Philip Kerr, who presented the idea to musical theater department chair Brent Wagner. "I thought we should do something by Miller because we haven't done anything by him in such a long time," Kerr said.
This production of "The Crucible" marks the musical theater department's third such non-musical play to be directed by Kerr. Two years ago brought Ari Roth's "Born Guilty" to the Trueblood Theater. Last year's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" played to packed audiences, who enjoyed the cross-gendered casting in a rich production full of feather boas and heavy metal. The purpose in presenting a non-musical play is to give the students a chance to hone their acting skills in a production that concentrates solely on the acting. "This production (of "The Crucible") is not a workshop. It's a full-blooded production," Kerr said.
Kerr has made some slight alterations to the script, giving new motivation for much of the play's action. Having cut the character of Tituba, the female Caribbean slave, entirely out of the play, Kerr believes that more focus will be placed on the brainwashed ways of the Salem society - no particular person can be blamed for the evil that is incurred.
"There's a sharper focus on the girls just dancing for the fun of it - Abby takes it onto herself to dance. I've given most of Tituba's lines to Sarah Good, who I've featured a bit more prominently," Kerr said.
Music junior Anna Gleichauf, who portrays Abby in the show, agrees with Kerr's decision to omit Tituba from the play.
"It is important because it takes out of the show a huge scapegoat. The play is not about one person accepting blame. Having Tituba in the play makes it a hard task for the audience because, truly, everyone's at fault," Gleichauf pondered.
Like many of the other women in Salem, Goody Good is displaced in a society where everyone is suspicious of unmarried women. She and the rest of the accused are innocent victims of an environment where personal identity doesn't figure as prominently as group think.
"The entire cast is a historical figure. (In this production) everyone has a personal identity - it's not just a chorus. It's a very layered piece - a wittier, mightier play than one might think. Even Miller's catalyst in creating it came from the late '40s. We haven't lost any of its edge," Kerr explained.
Kerr described the play as a morality play because it asks more questions than it provides answers.
"He doesn't let you off. Miller's unrelenting," Kerr said.
Additionally, Kerr has decided to omit the second scene from the second act - an occurrence not rare to many other "Crucible" productions. The passionate scene features a moment in the woods where Abigail's and John's tryst is confirmed, at least, through their lustful conversation and climactic bout. The romantic interlude, which was performed in the original Broadway production, was omitted by Miller in the published version of the play, and hasn't been performed subsequent to the Broadway revival at the Martinique Theater in 1958. Kerr doesn't find the scene adding anything to the play.
"I thought it was quite a mistake. Since then, it's rarely done. It burdens the play and takes it down the Post-Freudian spectacle. I think we know what Abby feels and what John Proctor feels without having seen it," Kerr stated.
Gleichauf finds the main tension of the play in society's denial of personal freedom.
"What is sacrificed - what ends up being ruined is the people's right to freedom - the right to be unjudged because it's a society that attacks people's self expression," Gleichauf explained. "Miller's plays strike a chord with so many people because he writes about humans with flaws. He's not afraid of showing imperfect people. All of these characters have flaws that all of us have."
Music sophomore Maclain Looper, who portrays Rev. John Hale in "The Crucible," finds Miller's work to be inspiring because "every character he writes about takes a huge journey." Looper believes the play to be an American classic because of its subject matter. "It's an image of what America is, then and now," he said.
Agreeing with Looper's vision of the play's timelessness is Music junior Patricia Lavery, who portrays Goody Proctor. "'The Crucible' is timeless because it's happening now. Americans have a hard time refraining from judging their neighbors. In this society we all know each other. The play is about our envy and our greed," Lavery said.
Kerr explained, "It's a big play - it's a tragedy. It reads like a detective story. As it gets more assembled, it gets more horrific. It's important because it has another resonance in our own time. It's a play about society run amok."
"The Crucible" runs tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and tomorrow and Sunday at 2 p.m. Free tickets can be picked up at the League Ticket Office. Call 764-0450 for more information.
Miller's first Broadway success was the family drama "All My Sons," a play about war profiteering and its effects upon a guilty conscience. It is one of Miller's most structured plays and is full of rife political commentary and a sometimes too-perfect series of events. When it first appeared on Broadway in 1947, the U.S. government labeled it as nothing more than Communist propaganda.
But the Communist party in the United States denied any support of Miller, saying that his plays were anti-society. "For example, I had realized long ago what was behind the Communists' disapproval of "Salesman" and "All My Sons:" their success and critical acceptance had thrown doubt on the shibboleth that American theater could not, and theoretically should not be able to, support socially truthful plays," Miller wrote in 1987.
Of "All My Sons," Miller stated, "As always the world and I were full of problems, but "All My Sons" had exhausted my lifelong interest in the Greco-Ibsen form, in the particular manner in which I had come to think of it."
In the play, Joe Keller, an aging Midwesterner who is fast-approaching retirement, lives each day with a shadow of guilt. During World War II, his airplane parts factory shipped an order of defective O-rings to the government, which later caused the death of many young soldiers, possibly including that of his eldest son, Larry, whose plane was lost at war. Joe's other son, Chris, begins courting Annie, his late brother's girlfriend, who comes to visit with the intention of becoming engaged. Kate Keller, Joe's wife, refuses to believe that Larry has died, hoping that he remains alive somewhere as a prisoner of war, if not stranded in some remote place. Annie's father, who used to live next door to the Kellers, was the business partner that took the blame for the defective equipment, and is serving time in prison as a result.
But the focus of the play is not entirely American; war profiteering is not strictly an American game. Following a 1977 performance of "All My Sons" in Jerusalem, the late prime minister of Israel, Yitzak Rabin, said, "Because this is a problem in Israel - boys are out there day and night dying in planes and on the ground, and back here people are making a lot of money. So it might as well be an Israeli play."
LSA junior Adam Weiner, director of "All My Sons," chose to produce the play partially because of the fact that not much Miller is produced on campus, as well as his intention to produce a modern American classic.
"Not many people have seen or read "All My Sons." With all the attention Miller is getting recently, I thought this was the perfect opportunity expose the University to a hidden gem. Personally, this play is my favorite of Miller's. With "Salesman" on Broadway again and "A View from the Bridge" taking the Tony award for last year's Broadway production, I thought is was time for attention to be paid to his others works," Weiner said.
One of the largest factors in the guilt that plagues the Keller household are the roles of the female characters, Annie and Kate. LSA junior Jef Cozza, who portrays Joe Keller in this production, sees Annie as being slightly responsible for Joe's guilt. "Annie says things that build up Joe's confidence," Cozza said.
"But as Joe states in the play: 'I ignore what I've got to ignore,' he's indicating his own fault," Cozza explained. "He's very vocal about exonerating Larry in Annie's eyes."
As for Joe's reaction to Kate's blindness, Cozza believes he's silent because she covers for him. "She shares his secret (concerning the defective rings). He doesn't want to dredge up the truth about his guilt as much as she wants to dredge up the truth about Larry's death," Cozza said. Miller once wrote of the hidden truth of the play: "I longed for a way to deliver onto the stage all the raw complexity I felt swirling within me. The problem with "All My Sons" was not that it was too realistic but that it left too little space and time for the wordless darkness that underlies all verbal truth."
"Joe says things that he knows people don't want to hear," Weiner added. "It's part of his moral blindness. He thinks everyone has forgiven him. He's a boss - he's used to being obeyed," Weiner said.
This presentation of "All My Sons" is charging the energy of its cast, who find great treasure in the ability to perform Miller's art. "This is as good as it gets," explained LSA sophomore Gabe Burnstein, who portrays Chris. "This is to an actor what the Rose Bowl is to a quarterback. It's not often that you get to act in an Arthur Miller play."
"Miller's still with us. He's a master of American drama in the 20th Century," Weiner added. "Knowing that he's out there and still writing - that's very special. It all starts and ends with him," he said.
"All My Sons" will play March 11, 12 and 13 at 8 p.m. at the Mendelssohn Theater. Tickets can be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations.
Arthur Miller Onstage
In the autobiography "Timebends," Miller wrote of the American theater: "In the sense that we lack any real awareness of a continuity with the past, we are, I think, a country without a theater culture. I - as only one example - have gone through years when my plays were being performed in half a dozen countries but not in New York ... I seemed to have been 'revived' when in fact I had only been invisible in my own land."
Mr. Miller, you're not invisible, here nor anywhere.
02-12-99
| Previous Article |
|
should be sent to: |
should be sent to: |