2012 Miracle Yearbook

Betty Parris(Alexandra Hull nan)and Abigail Williams(Grace Pilet) expose the women who Practice witchcraft to horrified friends and family. C darville features a more serious play for its winter showcase, The Crucible, T e story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 17th century, at a time when the mention of witchcraft sparked terror and women could be tried and hanged as witches on the unprovable testimonies of their alleged victims. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams, played by Grace Pilet, uproots Salem by accusing upright Christian women of witch- craft.She hopesto have Elizabeth Proctor tried and hanged as a witch so thatJohn Proctor will marry her. In Cedarville's rendition, the stage was separated into three sections,and the dark sharpness ofthe stage and backdrop added to the weightiness of the play. The play opened with the cast singing "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" a capella, the lights silhouetting their forms but obscuring their faces. It was haunting,indicating the heaviness of the play. The play forced the audiece to wonder: What will you give up to live? What are you willing to die for? Throughout the play, character after character is forced to choose, confessing to fictitious conversations with the devil or choosing death by hanging. Even Giles Corey, who delivers most of the play's witty one-liners, chooses death. Others prefer life. Mary, the Protors' hired help, confesses the ruse that she has not seen any ghosts, but when faced with perjury, she recants. The play ends soberly as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are wheeled in a cart to the gallows, refusing to confess a lie to live. It is not a humorously enter- taining play, but a necessary one, forcing its audience to consider what they stand for.