I saw Goody Nurse with the Devil!
I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!
I saw Goody Boothe with the Devil!
The girls were screaming and thrashing around on the stage. Bright lights glared at us from above, straining our eyes. My neck ached from arching hard to the right for hours.
I saw Mary Warren with the Devil!
I saw Giles Correy with the Devil!
I saw John Proctor with the Devil!
So many accusations. So many motivations. So much fear. The set was simple: an uneven table, rough plank benches, a shiny gold cross. If not for the costumes (and some of the language), I could almost imagine this play taking place as a current event.
My writing group went to support a fellow writer who played Rev. Parris in The Crucible last night. He was transformed from his usual curly-haired, jovial zen master persona into a grim, angry man. Even his hair looked somber. In the opening scene, I might not have recognized him because his face was so devoid of joy.
And Abigail Williams, during her first lines, there was a ghost of a smirk behind her face. I haven't taught or read this play for like a decade, so I wondered if maybe it was her inexperience. As her character developed though, I saw that smirk was (probably) intentional. It wasn't fully there until the end, but it really underscored her motivations and her villainy. And, it was SO UNDERSTATED!
I couldn't stop thinking about book challenges and censorship. Moms for Liberty demanding books to be banned and sometimes even burned. I wonder if anyone has written a modern take on the Salem Witch trials with accusations of witchcraft being replaced with the crime of supplying students with banned books.
With new laws dictating which book and topics can be mentioned in classrooms and school libraries, it definitely feels like a witch hunt in states like Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. A teacher at a local Christian high school even told me that she has a student whose mom asked her to "gather evidence" against teachers who might suggest "inappropriate" books. It's a little chilling.
I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!
I saw Goody Boothe with the Devil!
The girls were screaming and thrashing around on the stage. Bright lights glared at us from above, straining our eyes. My neck ached from arching hard to the right for hours.
I saw Mary Warren with the Devil!
I saw Giles Correy with the Devil!
I saw John Proctor with the Devil!
So many accusations. So many motivations. So much fear. The set was simple: an uneven table, rough plank benches, a shiny gold cross. If not for the costumes (and some of the language), I could almost imagine this play taking place as a current event.
My writing group went to support a fellow writer who played Rev. Parris in The Crucible last night. He was transformed from his usual curly-haired, jovial zen master persona into a grim, angry man. Even his hair looked somber. In the opening scene, I might not have recognized him because his face was so devoid of joy.
And Abigail Williams, during her first lines, there was a ghost of a smirk behind her face. I haven't taught or read this play for like a decade, so I wondered if maybe it was her inexperience. As her character developed though, I saw that smirk was (probably) intentional. It wasn't fully there until the end, but it really underscored her motivations and her villainy. And, it was SO UNDERSTATED!
I couldn't stop thinking about book challenges and censorship. Moms for Liberty demanding books to be banned and sometimes even burned. I wonder if anyone has written a modern take on the Salem Witch trials with accusations of witchcraft being replaced with the crime of supplying students with banned books.
With new laws dictating which book and topics can be mentioned in classrooms and school libraries, it definitely feels like a witch hunt in states like Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. A teacher at a local Christian high school even told me that she has a student whose mom asked her to "gather evidence" against teachers who might suggest "inappropriate" books. It's a little chilling.