The year is 1692... Late summer... Pre-Revolution America... A very fragile time in our country's history. Because of that fragility, we ended up with one of the most depressing set of circumstances of that day and time. Those particular events led our playwright, Arthur Miller, to write The Crucible: the story of the Salem, Massachusetts witchcraft trial. The script was written as an allegory of the 1950s McCarthy era. In those years, there was a list of well-to-do men and women who were accused of conspiracy, treason, and were black-listed. Those people, including Arthur Miller himself, eventually won their fight against the government. Because of that short period of time, we were given one of the greatest tragedies written by an American playwright.
Around the world at this time, there were many goings-on... King James was overthrown as King of England, and William of Orange took his place leading the nation into a huge war. Palchebel was already writing music and eventually wrote one of the most famous pieces of piano music the world has ever seen, Canon in D. In 1685 the world was also blessed with the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach, another wonderful music composer. Sir Isaac Newton, a philosopher, was in the midst of his well-known discoveries. He published his theory on gravity around this time. Despite the success of these nations, the continent of Europe was in great turmoil during this time.
On the continent of North America, not much was going on that historians know about. This country was mostly inhabited by Native Americans. They were peaceful people for the most part, providing for themselves in the ways they knew how... until they were over-run by the English settlers.
A bit previous to the year our play begins, many families immigrated from England to North America. Those English settlers were unhappy with their monarcy, the King and Queen form or government, and decided to do something about it. They packed their few belongings, boarded a ship, and made their way west... These happenings led to what we know now as the United States of America. But because of the unrest in Europe, some hostile feelings were brought along with those settlers. There were often villages and settlements that failed miserably, resulting in the death of almost everyone living in that certain area. For the most part, however, the groups worked well together to provide for themselves and their community.
The Salem witchcraft trials were a direct result of the religious hysteria taking place in the colonies. These people had left England having been fed up with the Catholic church. Many converted to Protestants or simply no religion at all. The difference of views and morals amongst townspeople brought on this tragedy. A young girl, Abigail Williams, along with her young cousin and a few friends were caught dancing nude in the woods to the tune of songs/chants from Tituba. Because of the children's guilt, they felt they had to protect themselves by claiming to love God while those around them were doing the Devil's work. John and Elizabeth Proctor were right in the middle of all the mess that was brought to Salem... John's servant, Mary Warren, was friends with Abigail, the Proctors' old servant who was forced out by Elizabeth for her belief that John had had some lapse in judgement concerning Abby. Abigail's uncle, Reverend Parris, also had a hand in the actions leading up to the witchcraft trials. He was supposed to be the Pastor of the town but not many people believed in him much by this time. I suppose he tried his best to be a good man but didn't quite make it. People's negativity and vulnerability were the biggest contributors to the events of the fall of 1692. Every one of those people was gentle in their own way, but their struggle to continue to be alive resulted in the death of a few.
In one way or another, society is extremely fragile and some of the most terrible attrocities are committed in the name of the Lord... It is apparent in history since the beginning of time and will probably never change. Both of these things greatly influenced Miller's script. Please join us on our journey through this dark time in our nation's history. It will be enlightening, perhaps insightful, and certainly not boring. We all hope that you enjoy our version of this American classic: Arthur Miller's, The Crucible.
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