The Crucible

On Tuesday 17th January FADS (Furness Academy Drama Skills) performed a re-enactment of The Crucible, originally written by Arthur Miller. They used the theme of prejudice and elements of contemporary movement to create an original piece. The audience were very appreciative and FADS students enjoyed the experience. In 1692 the Puritans were extremely religious people. They lived by the Ten Commandments and family was very important. They dressed and lived modestly. They were scared of anything against God or their religion which meant they were scared of anything different. There were rules that everybody lived by but favoured the men. The women were expected to be dependent and gentle. The Salem Witch trials sentenced many women to death. If someone was accused of witchcraft they could confess and then be executed as a witch. If someone wanted to prove their innocence they would be offered a trial, a physical test. Usually the only way to prove your innocence would be to not survive the trial. Over 150 trials took place in Salem at the time. We believe the situation was about fear and prejudice.
Our play was quite short and in 3 parts.
Act 1 : The local girls are playing and dancing in the woods. When they are found out they are so scared they have been doing something bad, they get ill. The whole village thinks witches have invaded Salem. They look to the priests to help them.
Act 2: In the second part of the play you will see a scene between John Proctor and his wife.
Act 3: In the third part we are in the courthouse. It’s a very intimidating place. John Proctor tries to confess to save his wife but in the end they are separated forever.

The ending of the play was very sad. We worked with the audience to think about the theme of prejudice and how it affects us today.