"The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.

Homegrown Performers.

Nottingham Playhouse.

Homegrown at Nottingham Playhouse is a pre-professional development programme for committed and experienced performers who are keen to work professionally in the industry. If this performance is anything to go by, the industry have some immensely passionate and powerful actors heading their way.

Written in 1953 and based on the Salem Witch trials of Massachusettes between 1692 and 1693. In a small tight-knit community, personal grievances clash with lust and superstition, fuelling widespread hysteria. Miller’s classic story attacks the evils of mindless persecution and the power of false accusations.

The play isn’t wholly about supernatural happenings that may, or may not have happened in this period of history, but also about human manipulation of the mind of their fellow man.

Making someone believe in something non fact based can be a very dangerous thing, which is also why there are so many comparisons with the political world since and currently. The power of the mind is a dangerous thing!

It’s also about power, lust, respect and love as well as unfounded belief; an intoxicating blend. Fact is swirled with fiction and it’s well documented that Miller did his research well before writing this literary classic, which still stands up with the best of today’s theatrical works.

There are two sets of casts for this production, with the cast for Friday night, also performing in the Saturday Matinee show, and the alternative cast playing the Saturday evening.

In reality this cast cannot be dissected for their individual merits because, as a whole cast, they are superb. Their performances are impassioned and Miller's script, in my eyes, has never been delivered with such energy. The hatred, as well as the fear that these lines hold are released with such meaning and intent, that at times you forget that this is a play you're watching, and grow quite fearful for some of the actors on stage, almost like watching bear baiting.

Keiran Burton is such an expressive actor as John Proctor, the play's tragic hero. Honest, upright, and blunt-spoken, Proctor is a good man, but one with a secret, fatal flaw. His lust for Abigail Williams led to their affair (which occurs before the play begins), and created Abigail’s jealousy of his wife, Elizabeth, which sets the entire witch hysteria in motion. I've never seen an actor's veins in their neck take such a prominent role as with Keiran!

Abigail Williams is played by Emma Buesnel. Williams is the villain of the play, more so than Parris or Danforth: she tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths. Throughout the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations never seem more complex than simple jealousy and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. 

Elizabeth Proctor is played by Rosario Rodriguez-Fernandez. Elizabeth is faithful, in every sense of the word, to her husband, John, as well as deeply caring and sensitive, if still hurting from what has happened to her. John had an affair with Abigail when she was a servant in the Proctors’ household. That sereneness, and love for John is brought out perfectly in Roasario's acting.

Reverand Parris, played by Stef White. Parris is the minister of Salem’s church. He is a paranoid, power-hungry, but self-pitying figure. Many of the Salem townsfolk, especially John Proctor, dislike him, and Parris is very concerned with building his position in the community. I very different role for Stef ( I last saw him in "Jerusalem" last year at the Playhouse) and this character is even meatier than his role as Jonny in that show last year.

Reverand John Hale, a young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft, is called in to Salem to examine Parris’s daughter Betty. Hale is a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft. His arrival sets the hysteria in motion, although he later regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of those accused. Noah Baguley takes on this equally passionate role, and again, a completely different set of acting skills needed for Hale from last year's role as Seymour in "Little Shop Of Horrors", showing what a flexible character actor he is.

Hannah Dunlop plays 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. Hannah brings out the fear that Mary has in her soul, especially during the second half of the play. Her eyes bulged almost as much as Keiran's veins in his neck, and at times Hannah looked to be close to tears due to the storyline and Warren's character.

Judge Danforth is 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. Ramy Ben-Fredj is excellent with his visual and facial acting skills and a fabulous character actor.

Judge Hathorne is a judge who presides, along with Danforth, over the witch trials. Scott McKenzie releases the almost power-crazy side of Hathorne in his characterisation of the second in line Judge. Another really good facial actor, even when not at the forefront of the scene.

Giles Corey is 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 dies an uncomfortable death due to sticking to his guns. Corey is played by Sonny Jansons-Cross.

Ivan Biryushev plays Thomas Putnam. He uses the witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land.

Rebecca Nurse is played by Evie Farmer. Rebecca is Francis Nurse’s wife, a wise, sensible, and upright woman, held in tremendous regard by most of the Salem community. However, she falls victim to hysteria when the Putnams accuse her of witchcraft and she refuses to confess.

Francis Nurse is played by Dumo Mkweli. Nurse is an aged but wealthy, influential man in Salem. Nurse is well respected by most people in Salem, but he is an enemy of Thomas Putnam and his wife. Dumo shows off his physicality prowess in this role; watch how he uses the walking stick and his shaky hands.

Betty Parris is played by Isabelle Atkinson. Betty is Reverend Parris’s ten-year-old daughter who 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. Her awakening from the "stupor" was on a par with one of the scenes from "The Exorcist", it actually made me jump, as I had not expected it. Thanks Isabelle!

Mercy Lewis  is played by Cerys Halford and is one of the girls in Abigail's group.

Nagaieh Dad plays Tituba, Reverend Parris’s black slave from Barbados. We first see this quite scary character in the first scene where Abigail's friends and Tituba are in the forest and Tituba performs a voodoo ritual. The choreography, by Nagaieh, with support from Hannah Dunlop, and execution of that choreography for this scene is hypnotic, which I suppose is what voodoo is supposed to be. Another excellent physical actor and talented choreographer as well.

Marshall Herrick is played by Harrison Eyre, who I also remember from "Jerusalem" last year. This production is absolutely rammed with character actors and Harrison is right up there. There's not an awful lot of comedy in this play, despite what some of the audience seemed to think, but Harrison, as Herrick, brought the light relief. Harrison also has a rare acting ability to be able to burp and belch on cue as we discovered in the second act. 

Susanna Walcott is played by Aminata Kanneh-Mason (I'm sure that I've heard that surname before, somewhere). Susanna is a young, nervous and frightened member of Abigail’s group, highlighting that this Nottinghamshire family has talents that run alongside musical prowess.

Ophelia Hiebert and Sara Moat complete the ensemble side of the cast.

Directed by Natalia Bruce, and assisted by Connor Deane and Nic Harvey.  When a production is as tight, energetic, emotive and passionate as this, there are no more words to say apart from "Thank You". The production started off on a high and stayed there throughout, keeping me, who has seen this Miller classic in the past, on the edge of my seat. Natalia could not have chosen a better cast. Well, as good a cast as the alternate cast she has on Saturday night, that is.

The set design is relatively sparse, but even if it weren't, this production doesn't need a set that may distract from the acting, not that it would of this calibre. I also liked the way that the set pieces were all made from pallets, which gave the bed and the table a feel of the era the play is set in.

Sound design, lighting design and the costumes all added that extra sheen to the production, and I love the song "Time In A Bottle" by Jim Croce.

Stage managed by Keira Dormer-Hazell, assisted by Careese Hutchinson, with Technical Support by Fred Baker.

If you're looking for one of the best productions of this Arthur Miller classic, then you need to get your tickets booked for Saturday's matinee and evening performances before they all go. 

Thank you Stef for asking me along.

"The Crucible" continues at the Neville Suite inside Nottingham Playhouse on Saturday for a matinee and an evening performance only.