• RAHS Drama’s productions of The Crucible and John Proctor is The Villain are ramping up with just three weeks until opening night. I sat down with Andrew Lindvall, Co-Director of the Crucible, Erik Lane, Codirector of John Proctor is The Villain, as well as Kaitlen Osburn,  Co-Director of the Crucible as well as John Proctor is The Villain and got to learn why these shows are so important for everyone to see. 

Q:What is the basic concept of how the shows will work 

A: Kaitlen-We are doing two shows in rep this Spring – ‘in rep’ is a theater term that is short for ‘repertory’. A repertory theater would have lots of shows in it’s repertoire, and would perform them in rotation throughout their season. Usually, when shows are performed in rep, the shows are connected somehow to each other – in our case, the shows are similar thematically. They dive into issues of power, gender dynamics, and morality, and they are issues that are always topical.

Q:What are you hoping for the audience to take from these shows 

A: Andy-I don’t think there’s just one thing I’d want them to take away. I’m hopeful that they use the competing perspectives to come to their own conclusion about the nature of truth, what it means to be good, what it means to be honest, and how troubling it is when these needs compete with each other. I’m looking forward to the discussions afterward!

Lane-Both shows take place in important moments in our country’s history – one long ago and one much more recent – where we had to reckon with the impact of those lies and ask ourselves if we really could keep telling them. I think we’re hoping that audiences walk away from these shows thinking about how easy it is to become trapped in a web of lies, and yet how necessary it is to tear those webs down. 

Q:What Inspired you to pick this pairing 

A: Lane- We’re always looking for plays where we can give opportunities to as many students as possible. But we were inspired to choose these two shows in large part by our amazing drama students, who last year really said that they wanted to take on more challenging, serious work.

Q:What excites you most about the show you’re directing 

A:Andy- I’m very excited to explore the historiography of the Salem Witch Trials and really interrogate how and why this story gets told. On top of that so much of the script has really meaty wonderful dialogue for actors to play and it will be very fun navigating these powerful moments.

Lane- What’s exciting about John Proctor is the Villain is that it’s not afraid to criticize The Crucible and it makes us ask bigger questions about who we should look up to and who do we trust.

Kaitlen- I’m really excited to get to work with students on a text-heavy show. It’s been several years since we have done an American classic like The Crucible, and we will get to do some dramaturgical work that we haven’t done yet! John Proctor is the Villain is a very modern play and it will be great to be able to take our actors to another level of performance

Q:What makes these shows still powerful today

A: Andy- I think The Crucible reflects a very American story that recurs throughout history again and again. It’s got a lot of extremely compelling, relatable, and flawed characters that make this event from history feel present and I think that’s a terrifying reminder that we should take seriously. 

Lane- These two shows are both about the lies societies tell to maintain the status quo and retain power for those who have it.  More specifically, John Proctor is the Villain both builds on and challenges some of the basic assumptions found in The Crucible. It takes place in the height of the #MeToo movement and is also very much about power, gender, and truth.