The Theater Lab produces vital and timely 1953 play, ‘The Crucible’

“The Theater Lab, a District 214 Community Education program, is committed to producing works from the canon of American Theater,” says John Meyers, director of the production and artistic director for The Theater Lab. “Regardless of how one curates it, ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller is one of the core plays of our culture.”

“The Crucible” is commonly interpreted as a reenactment based on the historical events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93. “The playwright, Arther Miller, traveled to Salem to do thorough historical research,” says Meyers.

Historical facts included in “The Crucible” based on the Salem Witch Trials include the names of the characters of the play, who are all based on real people.

History also shows that during the Salem Witch Trials, hundreds were accused, 19 people were hanged, one was pressed to death with weights while refusing to confess, and at least five others died of disease in the filthy jails.

Meyers comments, “It was an episode of mass hysteria orchestrated by amoral cynics seeking personal power and wealth that destroyed the lives of innocent people.”

“Though referring to real-life events and individuals who were part of the historical Salem Witch Trials, ‘The Crucible’ is not a documentary,” continues Meyers. “And though characters in “The Crucible” are based on real people involved in the Salem Witch Trials, there are some crucial differences, particularly in the characterizations of John Proctor and Abigail Williams.” At the time of the trials, Abigail was 12 and John Proctor was 61.

“Although Williams charged Proctor with lechery there is no reason to believe this any more than her accusations of witchcraft,” says Meyers. “Elizabeth Proctor had been accused for questioning whether there was witchcraft at all, and John defended his wife, but the Proctors’ possessions were sold off cheaply and they were both hanged. The playwright, Miller, slanders John Proctor by having made his affair with Abigail a fact in the play; Miller’s reasons for doing so were intimate.”

In 1940, Miller, married Mary Slattery and had two children with her; Jane, in 1944, and Robert in 1947. Then, in 1951, when Miller was 36 he had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, who was 25 at the time. Miller would later divorce his wife in 1956 and marry Monroe in 1956.

“What this means,” says Meyers, “is that when Miller wrote the play in 1953, he had been a family man who had an affair with a much younger woman a few years earlier. An affair that was still very likely weighing on his heart, mind and marriage. It is not difficult to draw a connection between the fictional John Proctor as more of a reflection of how Miller saw himself than who the real-life John Proctor of The Salem Witch Trials really was.”

“The Crucible,” was written and produced in 1953, and while it may have been written under the guise of the Salem Witch Trials, it was also written during a “real life witch hunt.” Miller himself would have been living through the “Red Scare” of McCarthyism, when Elia Kazan was providing the names of supposedly “communist” writers and artists to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. As a part of these accusations, Miller was brought before Joseph McCarthy and his Un-American Committee in 1956, where Miller was found in contempt of Congress for refusing to give the names of other artists who shared his views. Miller was sentenced to a fine, prison, blacklisted from Hollywood and denied a passport.

“In this, too,” says Meyers, “Miller portrayed himself in the character of John Proctor of the play who refused to give the names of others to save himself.”

What we see in “The Crucible” then, is a play that, on the surface, appears to tell the story of a historical event, The Salem Witch Trials. When we dig deeper, we realize that interwoven is another historical witch hunt, McCarthyism, that the playwright personally experienced, as well as some of the artist’s personal challenges. As is often the case with artists, it’s a story of atonement and foreboding.

“Ultimately, the play is therefore about much more than a case of adultery,” Meyers concludes. “It is about a community that tears itself apart looking for witches. It is about how a slave-holding minister utterly failed to be a moral leader. It is about how the powerful exploit the weak and how easy it is for a lie to overcome the truth, particularly when it suits the powerful for it to do so. And this, especially, is how it is a piece of theater that is as vital and timely today as it was in 1953.”

The Theater Lab will present a limited four-performance run of “The Crucible”: Friday, Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 17 at 3 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 18 at 3 p.m. All performances will take place at Forest View Educational Center Theater, 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights.

Tickets for The Theater Lab’s production of “The Crucible” can be purchased through District 214 Community Education’s registration system at links.d214.org/thecrucible or by calling (847) 718-7700.

General admission tickets in advance are $22 in for adults, $20 for seniors, and $16 for students. At the door prices are $24 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $18 for students, and District 214 Gold Card Members receive 15% off.

To find out about ticket promotions, special performances, learn more about The Theater Lab, and go behind the scenes of its production of “The Crucible,” follow “District 214 Community Education's The Theater Lab” on Facebook and Instagram.