Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I think I must be well known on the event circuit as the ‘Cushion Lady’ as years of experience have taught me that I need one.
Unfortunately I forgot not only that Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a long – three hours long, in fact – play but also to bring my cushion.
It speaks volumes for how good the SSDA production of The Crucible was, that it really didn’t matter that much.
Performed in St Christopher’s School Drama Hall in Isa Town last Friday and Saturday and set in the American village of Salem in the late 1600s, it was from the outset a very atmospheric production dealing with the subjects of religious hysteria and vengeance.
It was lit to perfection by Vijay, and with sets that provided the authenticity with which to draw the audience in, yet that were simple to an extreme.
As we approached the auditorium we had to negotiate a passageway festooned with nooses and small posters telling us news of the trials. To our left the ‘girls’ from the village of Salem were dancing and shrieking as they perceived the presence of people watching them.
A brilliant piece of theatricality – congratulations to the director Ruqaaya Aamer.
Every single member of the cast played their part so well that it hardly seems fair to single anyone out although, of course, some roles beg for mention. I have to say that the cameo role of Tituba acted to perfection by Scarlet Robinson really stood out. She captured the spirit of the Barbados Lass completely.
And, as to Tom Hanratty as John Proctor, and David Hollywood as Deputy Governor, Thomas Dankforth, hat off to you sirs, you were stars.
It is an incredibly complex and long script and although there were one or two fluffed lines, the professional way that they were dealt with without the benefit of a prompt, was in itself a great addition to the play.
From the village servants and children, Hannah Yahya, Veronika Gataric, Sophie Holland, Sowsan Hassan and Natalie Myatt , to the Reverends-
Haaris Cudmore and the Judge Ghazi Al Rufffai they were all amazing.
Plus, of course, the not so gentrified Mike Eddison as Giles Corey, Anne Kooheji as Rebecca Nurse, Carrie Bell as Ann Putnam, Hadil Mansoor as Sarah Good and the impressive Senay Dinscoy as Elisabeth Proctor they created an experience, rather than a play.
We were led into the world of black and grey that surrounded the Salem Witch Trials; left hollow and scarred to return to our everyday lives at the end.
A powerful experience, and one that as I overheard another theatre-goer say on the way out ‘was a steal at only BD5 a ticket’.
Congratulations to the entire team.
-Christine Hasan
