Preview | ‘The Crucible’ at Santa Barbara High
Arthur Miller’s Themes Still Resonate with Today’s Teens
The Santa Barbara High School theater department, in its first production under artistic director Gioia Marchese, presents a new, movement-based presentation of Arthur Miller’s classic play, The Crucible. This play, written by Miller in response to being accused of communist activities during the McCarthy era, offers a dramatized version of the Salem witch trials.
Student actor Presley Villa says that the play’s themes of “persecution and self-preservation are highly relevant, especially for modern day youth.” Student Hattie Ugoretz says the play addresses the idea that “when desire to maintain public image is valued above honesty and morality, there are consequences. In our current digital age where social media projects our image further than any character in The Crucible could imagine, these same questions of what we are willing to give up while trying to ‘perfect’ our image still stand.”
The Crucible, directed by Marchese and Kyra Lehman, runs at SBHS November 12, and 17–19. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit sbhsca.booktix.com.
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