Director: Mrs. Jensyn Modero
Rahway High School, Rm 110
jmodero@rahway.net
Rehearsals & Miscellaneous Information
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Actors are required to attend all staging rehearsals that correspond to
the scenes they are in.
Actors are required to attend all run-throughs the week before and the
week of the show.
Actors are required to attend all tech rehearsals the week of the
production.
Actors are expected to help with any fundraisers associated with this
production.
Actors are expected to help with set construction, painting, costumes,
lobby décor, etc.
All actors must be off book on or before November 2, 2105.
All actors should attend all scheduled rehearsals and will only be
excused due to illness. All known conflicts must be emailed to Mrs. Mo by
September 24, 2015.
TWO unexcused absences will lead to removal from the
production.
Professionalism
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All actors are expected to come to rehearsal with their materials,
including the following: script, pencil, any personal props, proper
rehearsal attire and/or water and snacks for our breaks.
Weekly rehearsals will GENERALLY run Tuesdays & Thursdays from
6:00pm-9:00pm and FRIDAY’s from 3:00pm-4:00PM/5:00PM. We will
also use some Saturday’s from12:00pm-3:00pm. Not all actors will be
called to every rehearsal.
o Each rehearsal will begin with a physical/vocal warm up. Please be on
time so that we can begin as a cast.
The rehearsal schedule during the week gives some time from when school
lets out. Please manage your time and get your homework done if you can!
You can also do your homework on your down time. Your grades and school
comes first!
Mrs. Mo will be asking the families of the cast members to donate some
water/snacks for tech week and show nights. Every little donation helps!
Contract & Conflicts
By signing below, you understand the responsibilities and expectations of the
student and parent/guardian regarding participation in The Crucible.
Student Name:
____________________________________
Student Autograph:
____________________________________
Student Email:
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Parent/Guardian Name:
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Parent/Guardian Autograph:
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Parent/Guardian Email:
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SYNOPSIS
In the Puritan New England town of Salem, Massachusetts, a
group of girls goes dancing in the forest with a black slave
named Tituba. While dancing, they are caught by the local
minister, Reverend Parris. One of the girls, Parris’s
daughter Betty, falls into a coma-like state. A crowd
gathers in the Parris home while rumors of witchcraft fill
the town. Having sent for Reverend Hale, an expert on
witchcraft, Parris questions Abigail Williams, the girls’
ringleader, about the events that took place in the forest.
Abigail, who is Parris’s niece and ward, admits to doing
nothing beyond “dancing.”
While Parris tries to calm the crowd that has gathered in his
home, Abigail talks to some of the other girls, telling them
not to admit to anything. John Proctor, a local farmer, then
enters and talks to Abigail alone. Unbeknownst to anyone
else in the town, while working in Proctor’s home the
previous year she engaged in an affair with him, which led to
her being fired by his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail still desires
Proctor, but he fends her off and tells her to end her
foolishness with the girls.
Betty wakes up and begins screaming. Much of the crowd
rushes upstairs and gathers in her bedroom, arguing over
whether she is bewitched. A separate argument between
Proctor, Parris, the argumentative Giles Corey, and the
wealthy Thomas Putnam soon ensues. This dispute centers
on money and land deeds, and it suggests that deep fault
lines run through the Salem community. As the men argue,
Reverend Hale arrives and examines Betty, while Proctor
departs. Hale quizzes Abigail about the girls’ activities in the
forest, grows suspicious of her behavior, and demands to
speak to Tituba. After Parris and Hale interrogate her for a
brief time, Tituba confesses to communing with the devil, and
she hysterically accuses various townsfolk of consorting
with the devil. Suddenly, Abigail joins her, confessing to
having seen the devil conspiring and cavorting with other
townspeople. Betty joins them in naming witches, and the
crowd is thrown into an uproar.
A week later, alone in their farmhouse outside of town, John
and Elizabeth Proctor discuss the ongoing trials and the
escalating number of townsfolk who have been accused of
being witches. Elizabeth urges her husband to denounce
Abigail as a fraud; he refuses, and she becomes jealous,
accusing him of still harboring feelings for her. Mary
Warren, their servant and one of Abigail’s circle, returns
from Salem with news that Elizabeth has been accused of
witchcraft but the court did not pursue the accusation.
Mary is sent up to bed, and John and Elizabeth continue their
argument, only to be interrupted by a visit from Reverend
Hale. While they discuss matters, Giles Corey and Francis
Nurse come to the Proctor home with news that their wives
have been arrested. Officers of the court suddenly arrive
and arrest Elizabeth. After they have taken her, Proctor
browbeats Mary, insisting that she must go to Salem and
expose Abigail and the other girls as frauds.
The next day, Proctor brings Mary to court and tells Judge
Danforth that she will testify that the girls are lying.
Danforth is suspicious of Proctor’s motives and tells
Proctor, truthfully, that Elizabeth is pregnant and will be
spared for a time. Proctor persists in his charge, convincing
Danforth to allow Mary to testify. Mary tells the court
that the girls are lying. When the girls are brought in, they
turn the tables by accusing Mary of bewitching them.
Furious, Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail and
accuses her of being motivated by jealousy of his wife. To
test Proctor’s claim, Danforth summons Elizabeth and asks
her if Proctor has been unfaithful to her. Despite her
natural honesty, she lies to protect Proctor’s honor, and
Danforth denounces Proctor as a liar. Meanwhile, Abigail
and the girls again pretend that Mary is bewitching them, and
Mary breaks down and accuses Proctor of being a witch.
Proctor rages against her and against the court. He is
arrested, and Hale quits the proceedings.
The summer passes and autumn arrives. The witch trials have
caused unrest in neighboring towns, and Danforth grows
nervous. Abigail has run away, taking all of Parris’s money
with her. Hale, who has lost faith in the court, begs the
accused witches to confess falsely in order to save their
lives, but they refuse. Danforth, however, has an idea: he
asks Elizabeth to talk John into confessing, and she agrees.
Conflicted, but desiring to live, John agrees to confess, and
the officers of the court rejoice. But he refuses to
incriminate anyone else, and when the court insists that the
confession must be made public, Proctor grows angry, tears
it up, and retracts his admission of guilt. Despite Hale’s
desperate pleas, Proctor goes to the gallows with the
others, and the witch trials reach their awful conclusion.
AUDITION
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 3:00pm- 7:00pm Rm 110
CALLBACK
(by invitation only):
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 6:00pm-9:00pm Rm 110
Please sign up for an audition slot on the Theatre Call Board behind
the stage.
WHAT TO PREPARE
Males: Please prepare ONE of the male monologues below.
Female: Please prepare ONE of the female monologues below.
Memorization of the monologue is not a requirement; however, it is
preferred. Please be prepared with a strong character choice and
know what your character is fighting for. You may be asked to take
direction during your initial audition. The callback is by invitation only
and it will involve scene work. I am looking for actors who make BOLD
choices who are willing to take risks emotionally. Breathe, relax, and
ENJOY!!!! #theatre J
Characters
John Proctor - A local farmer who lives just outside town; Elizabeth
Proctor’s husband. A stern, harsh-tongued man, John hates hypocrisy.
Nevertheless, he has a hidden sin—his affair with Abigail Williams—that
proves his downfall. When the hysteria begins, he hesitates to expose
Abigail as a fraud because he worries that his secret will be revealed
and his good name ruined.
Abigail Williams -Reverend Parris’s niece. Abigail was once the
servant for the Proctor household, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her
after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her
husband, John Proctor. Abigail is smart, wily, a good liar, and
vindictive when crossed.
Reverend John Hale - A young minister reputed to be an expert on
witchcraft. Reverend Hale is called in to Salem to examine Parris’s
daughter Betty. Hale is a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft.
His critical mind and intelligence save him from falling into blind
fervor. His arrival sets the hysteria in motion, although he later
regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of those accused.
Elizabeth Proctor - John Proctor’s wife. Elizabeth fired Abigail
when she discovered that her husband was having an affair with
Abigail. Elizabeth is supremely virtuous, but often cold.
Reverend Parris - The minister of Salem’s church. Reverend Parris is
a paranoid, power-hungry, yet oddly self-pitying figure. Many of the
townsfolk, especially John Proctor, dislike him, and Parris is very
concerned with building his position in the community.
Rebecca Nurse - Francis Nurse’s wife. Rebecca is a wise, sensible, and
upright woman, held in tremendous regard by most of the Salem
community. However, she falls victim to the hysteria when the Putnam’s
accuse her of witchcraft and she refuses to confess.
Francis Nurse - A wealthy, influential man in Salem. Nurse is well
respected by most people in Salem, but is an enemy of Thomas Putnam
and his wife.
Judge Danforth - The deputy governor of Massachusetts and the
presiding judge at the witch trials. Honest and scrupulous, at least in
his own mind, Danforth is convinced that he is doing right in rooting
out witchcraft.
Giles Corey - An elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his
tendency to file lawsuits. Giles’s wife, Martha, is accused of
witchcraft, and he himself is eventually held in contempt of court and
pressed to death with large stones.
Thomas Putnam - A wealthy, influential citizen of Salem, Putnam
holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam’s
brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister. He uses the
witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of
witchcraft and then buying up their land.
Ann Putnam - Thomas Putnam’s wife. Ann Putnam has given birth to
eight children, but only Ruth Putnam survived. The other seven died
before they were a day old, and Ann is convinced that they were
murdered by supernatural means.
Ruth Putnam - The Putnam’s’ lone surviving child out of eight. Like
Betty Parris, Ruth falls into a strange stupor after Reverend Parris
catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods at night.
Tituba - Reverend Parris’s black slave from Barbados. Tituba agrees
to perform voodoo at Abigail’s request.
Mary Warren - The servant in the Proctor household and a member of
Abigail’s group of girls. She is a timid girl, easily influenced by those
around her, who tried unsuccessfully to expose the hoax and
ultimately recanted her confession.
Betty Parris - Reverend Parris’s ten-year-old daughter. Betty falls
into a strange stupor after Parris catches her and the other girls
dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth Putnam
fuel the first rumors of witchcraft.
Martha Corey - Giles Corey’s third wife. Martha’s reading habits lead
to her arrest and conviction for witchcraft.
Ezekiel Cheever - A man from Salem who acts as clerk of the court
during the witch trials. He is upright and determined to do his duty for
justice.
Judge Hathorne - A judge who presides, along with Danforth, over
the witch trials.
Herrick - The marshal of Salem.
Mercy Lewis - One of the girls in Abigail’s group.
We may cast additional townspersons and/or teenage girls
in the production.
Please READ THE PLAY or at least a full SYNOPSIS before auditioning.
It will increase your chances of being cast tremendously.
MARY WARREN
I never knew it before. I never knew anything before. When
she come into the court I say to myself, I must not accuse
this woman, for she sleep in ditches, and so very old and
poor….But then….then she sit there, denying and denying, and
I feel a misty coldness climbin’ up my back, and the skin on my
skull begin to creep, and I feel a clamp around my neck and I
cannot breath air, and then………I hear a voice, a screamin’
voice, and it were my voice…..and all at once I remembered
everything she done to me!!! So many time, Mister Proctor,
she come to this very door beggin bread and cider…and mark
this…whenever I turned her away empty…..she mumbled!!! You
must remember Goody Proctor—last month—a Monday I
think…she walked away and I though my guts would burst
for two days after. Do you remember it?
ELIZABETH PROCTOR
Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she may dote
on it now---I am sure she does—and thinks to kill me, then to
take my place. It is her dearest hope, John, I know it. There be
a thousand names, why does she call mine? There be a certain
danger in calling such a name---I am no Goody Good that
sleeps in ditches, nor Osburn drunk and half-witted. She’s
dare not call out such a farmers wife but there be
monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John.
John, have you ever shown her somewhat of contempt? She
cannot pass you in the church but you will blush…and I think
she sees another meaning in that blush. I think you be
somewhat ashamed, for I am there, and she so close. Go and
tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense
break it John!! Break it!!!!!
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS
Why, you taught me goodness, therefore you are good. It
were a fire you walked me through, and all my ignorance was
burned away. It were a fire, John, we lay in fire. And from
that night no woman dare call me wicked any more but I knew
my answer. I used to weep for my sins when the wind lifted up
my skirts; and blushed for shame because some old Rebecca
called me loose. And then you burned my ignorance away. As
bare as some December tree I saw them all---walking like
saints to church, running to feed the sick, and hypocrites in
their hearts! And God gave me strength to call them liars,
and God made men to listen to me, and by God I will scrub the
world clean for the love of God. Oh John, I will make you
such a wife when the world is white again! You will be amazed
to see me every day, a light of heaven in your house, a…..Why
are you cold?!
JUDGE DANFORTH
Mister Hale, believe me; for a man of such terrible learning
you are most bewildered—I hope you will gorgive me. I have
been thirty-two year at the bar, sire, and I should be
confounded were I called upon to defend these people. Let
you consider, now, and I bid you all do likewise:-- in an
ordinary crime, how does one defend these people? Let you
consider, now---and I bid you all do likewise -- -in an ordinary
crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up
witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is ipso
facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime.
Therefore, we must rely upon her victims-----and they do
testify, the children certainly do testify. As for the witches,
none will deny that we are most eager for their
confessions. Therefore, what is left for a lawyer to bring
out? I think I have made my point. Have I not?
REV. JOHN HALE
Proctor, I cannot think God be provoked so grandly by such
a petty cause. The jails are packed, our greatest judges sit in
Salem now----and hangin’s promised. Man, we must look to
cause proportionate . Were there murder done perhaps, and
never brought to light? Abomination? Some secret
blasphemy that stinks to heaven? Think on cause, man, and let
you help me to discover it. For there’s your way, believe it,
there is your only way, when such confusion strikes upon
the world. Let you counsel among yourselves; think on your
village and what may have drawn from heaven such
thundering wrath upon you all. I shall pray to God open up
our eyes.
REV. SAMUEL PARIS
I cannot blink what I saw, Abigail, for my enemies will not
blink it. I saw a dress lying in the grass and I thought I saw
someone naked running through the trees. I saw it! Now tell
me true, Abigail. Now my ministry’s at stake; my ministry and
perhaps your cousin’s life….Whatever abomination you have
done, give me all of it now, for I dare not be taken unaware
when I go before them down there. Abigail, I have fought here
three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me,
and now, just now when there must be some good respect
for me in the parish, you compromise my very character. I
have given you a home, child, I have put clothes upon your
back—now give me upright answer:--- your name in the town-----it
is entirely white, is it not? Abigail, is there any other cause
than you have told me, for Goody Proctor discharging you?
It has troubled me that you are now seven months out of
their house, and in all this time no other family has ever
called for your service.
JOHN PROCTOR
In what time and place? In the proper place, where my beasts
are bedded. Eight months now, sir, it is eight months. She
used to serve me in my house, sir. A man may think God sleeps,
but God sees everthing. I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you--see her what she is. My wife, my dear good wife took this girl
soon after, sir, and put her out on the high road. And being
what she is, a lump of vanity, sir( he starts to weep)
Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with
me on my wife’s grave! And well she might! For I thought of
her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in
such sweat! But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see
it; I set myself entirely in your hands, I know you must see it
now. My wife is innocent, except she know a whore when she
see one!!!