CLC's 'The Crucible' reflects '50s-era fears

"The Crucible" by Arthur Miller will be presented by the College of Lake County Theatre Department at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Nov. 15, 16, 17 and at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Studio Theatre of the James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts on the Grayslake campus, 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake.

Winner of the 1953 Tony Award for best play, this drama, based on the Salem witch trials of 1692, tells the story of a group of young women who are accused of witchcraft. The town's hysteria grows as blameless victims are torn from their homes, jailed and brought to court.

Written in 1953 to hold a mirror up to the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1940s and '50s, "The Crucible" was not well received in its first production on Broadway due to the fear that had been generated by the Joseph McCarthy-era communist "witch hunts," said Director Thomas B. Mitchell.

"But when it was produced again after McCarthy fell from the limelight and lost favor with the government, it had a long run. This fact in itself highlights the fear and insecurity that people feel when authority figures in government, or in the case of this play, religion, use tactics that intimidate people," Mitchell said.

The cast of "The Crucible" includes Bobby Engelhard and Renee Johnson of Antioch; Sharon Aiello of Barrington; Jean Froese of Gages Lake; Scott Cook, Brian Dykstra, Nicole Lanier and David Steiger of Grayslake; Heather Zink of Great Lakes; Kellie Pina and John Stergiou of Gurnee; Michael Johnson and Charles Pauley of Ingleside; Bill Roberts of Libertyville; Diane Hoskin of Lindenhurst; Michael Dvorak and Emilia Dvorak of Long Grove; Erika Bradbury of Mundelein; Ashley Little of Round Lake; Marc Nicholson and Tiffany Pfingsten of Round Lake Beach; Dave Vasicek of Wauconda; Erica Angelos of Waukegan; Jenny Landmann of Wildwood; and Whitney Darling of Winthrop Harbor.

Tickets to "The Crucible" are $10 each for the general public and $8 for CLC students and staff, seniors 65 and older and JLC season subscribers. Prices include a $1 per ticket James Lumber Center restoration fee. Tickets are available at the CLC Box Office in the James Lumber Center on the Grayslake campus. Tickets may be purchased in person, by phone at (847) 543-2300, online at www.clcillinois.edu/tickets or by mail using the order form in the season brochure. For group sales information, call (847) 543-2431.