YLHS Theatre premiered its newest play, The Crucible, in the Forum on December 2, 2016. Set at the time of the Salem witch trials, the play reminds the audience of how dangerous fear can be. Arthur Miller wrote the play in the 1950s near the end of World War II.

It starts out with Reverend Samuel Parris praying over his daughter, Betty Parris, who has fainted from an unknown cause. Abigail Williams is questioned by the Reverend and reveals that she and a group of girls, including Betty, had gone dancing in the forest. Later, Abigail forces the other girls to confirm her story, hinting that something else happened that night. As the play continues, the girls start to claim that different women throughout Salem are bewitching them. They insist that these women have been conversing with the Devil, although all are devout Puritans. Out of fear, all suspects are arrested without any proof. Those who confessed are spared, and those who refused to compromise it are hung.

The student actors who performed in this play were truly incredible. The main actors in the play included Ian Dembek as John Proctor, Macy Warner as Elizabeth Proctor, Nicole Stuart as Abigail Williams, Riley Pietenpol as Reverend Samuel Parris, Rose Pell as Mary Warren, William Russell as Giles Corey, and Cooper Summers as Deputy Governor Danforth. It was obvious that all the actors put an immense amount of time into memorizing their lines. Because the play is in older English, I was impressed by how easily the lines were delivered. Also, all the actors managed to make the audience understand and sympathize with the characters. Through all the dialogue being spoken, the actions and expression used by the Theatre students was incredible. They managed to interact with each other and act naturally without seeming rehearsed. The Crucible is much more serious than any other play done at YLHS and for the students to manage to both embody and entertain the audience took serious skill. Coco Xu(10)  believes “all the actors are extremely talented and that it was a good play overall.” The actors truly deserve to be commended for their outstanding performance.

Outside of the acting, the props and lighting were well timed with what was happening in the play. The costumes worn by the actors were also well made and fit the time period perfectly. Kyle Kvenvik(10) saw the play and he agrees that the “acting, costumes, lighting, and all elements were done well. There isn’t really anything… that I would change.” The Crucible is overall amazing all around, and YLHS Theatre students should truly be recognized for their skills in reviving such an iconic play.