‘The Crucible’ Meets ‘The Californians’ in UCSB’s New Production
Modern Version of Arthur Miller Play Gets Updated Contemporary Setting
Students read Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in high school to experience a great American playwright using allegory to comment on the “witch hunt” of his time, the McCarthy trials. Deeply rooted in our cultural history, The Crucible is a play we love to explore. Locally, The Crucible will be presented by the UCSB Department of Theater & Dance, helmed by guest director Lisa Benavides-Nelson. “I wasn’t a fan of Miller’s work before beginning this production,” she says. “His plays seemed strident and shouty — this play in particular…. Then I started working on it and I realized: It’s bigger than all of us.”
The play revolves around Salem community stalwart John Proctor (Nicholas Enea); his wife, Elizabeth (Phoebe Alva); and teenager Abigail Williams (Vivian Oxley), who accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft. Enea calls his character “a man defined by his values and commitments. The inner turmoil he goes through as he breaks his own values due to personal weakness is heartbreaking.” Alva describes Elizabeth as a woman who maintains integrity, even in the face of unspeakable obstacles. Oxley describes Abigail as smart, charming, and self-preserving. “She learns of the power she holds over the authority figures in her life … and finds joy in controlling those who once controlled her,” she says. “I’ve found great fulfillment in understanding Abigail as a resilient and powerful young woman rather than a villain.” In UCSB’s production of The Crucible, the characters are not Puritan settlers, but a tight-knit California community built on the shared goals of living sustainably and eco-consciously. “What would it be like to live in one of these microgrid communities, removing yourself from technology and mass consumption?” Benavides-Nelson asks, adding that she is less interested in witches than she is in the stories adults create in their minds to vilify other people and how staunchly they will defend their beliefs.
‘The Crucible’ plays March 5-10 at the UCSB Performing Arts Theatre. See theaterdance.ucsb.edu/news/event/1043.
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