A contemporary take on an American classic
By Nicolene Tan and Travis Chan
Toy Factory Productions returns with their contemporary take on American literary classic, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller. Transported back to the notorious Salem witch trials from the 1600s in Massachusetts; the play encircles the themes of fear, faith, conformity, and morals. Toy Factory has undoubtedly taken a bold step into challenging the timeless classic and what can we say? They have done us proud.
After the daughter of local minister Reverend Parris takes ill for no reason at all, rumours began to plague the town with possible activities of witchcraft taking place. Parris’ niece, Abigail Williams, then takes opportunity of the situation and spreads rumours about seeing the devil communicating with the townsfolk. As the story progress, the town is thrown into total chaos – nobody knows who is innocent, or who is the devil’s advocate. Will anybody ultimately confess to have had dealings with the devil, or would they rather be hanged instead?
From start till end, the performers did a spectacular job wowing the audience with their amazing acting and genuine feelings poured into being the characters themselves. It was nerve-wrecking watching as the plot progressed. Sharda Harrisson did a particularly excellent job portraying Mary Warren, a housemaid for the Proctors; especially in a scene where she vehemently denied accusations of her using witchcraft to send spirits to disturb the girls in the vestry.
As juxtaposed to Sharda’s forcefulness, Julie Wee (Elizabeth Proctor) did a fantastic job illustrating her character – a virtuous woman who is steadfast and genuine. Having had her husband cheated on her with their housekeeper, Julie Wee depicted a calm and composed Elizabeth Proctor, which is true to the literary world of The Crucibles. We were almost moved to tears during the last scene, where Elizabeth Proctor nobly helps her tortured husband forgive himself, just before he faces judgement from the presiding judge.
Of course, behind every successful man, there is a woman. In this case, behind this noteworthy play, there is Rayann Condy. Apart from The Crucible, the up-and-coming director has also directed past Toy Factory Productions such as Equus. Award-winning Thai fashion designers Saksit Pisalasupongs and Phisit Jongnarangsin from Tube Gallery have also return to design the costumes for this production.
A mixture of fresh acting talents and theatre veterans like Timothy Nga (Reverend Parris) and Rodney Oliveiro (John Proctor) certainly brought this play to a higher level with their acting prowess, managing to give the audience members an absolutely enthralling experience which led to a tumultuous applause at the end, which is well-deserved, we admit.
Once again, we applaud Toy Factory Productions for working magic in recreating this influential novel-turn-play story. Its aggressive, suspenseful, and intense, atmosphere certainly left us with chills down our spines. A trial wouldn’t have to be in order to know that this is a marvellous play!
Catch this enigmatic yet bewitching (see what we did there?) play at the Drama Theatre Centre from the 8th to 23rd of February – you’d definitely be charmed!
