YHS drama to present “The Crucible”

Lacey Rees/Sierra Star

In a courtroom scene, Amber Kroll’s character (left) is accusing the other three women of lying in Yosemite High School’s play, “The Crucible,” scheduled for November 8, 9, 15 and 16. Other actresses are Amanda Bridgford, Karissa Simonsen and Ashley Newton.

Yosemite High School will present its fall drama, “The Crucible,” an Arthur Miller play about the Salem witch hunts of the 17th century.

The drama will be presented at the Yosemite High School drama theater on Friday and Saturday, November 8-9, and the following week, November 15-16 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $7, and $5 with a YHS ASB card.

“The Crucible” was written in 1953, one of Mr. Miller’s earlier plays. In it Mr. Miller explores the roots of intolerance and mass hysteria. The plot centers around John Proctor, a forthright farmer, his wife Elizabeth and Abigail, a ringleader of girls. The girls have been discovered dancing, a banned activity, and declare themselves victims of the Devil and accuse several in the community of witchcraft.

About 20 advanced drama and International Baccalaureate students will have parts in the play, directed by Lars Thorson, YHS’s new drama teacher.

Bryan Guadagnini, a senior, plays farmer John Proctor. He says he saw the movie in English class and has studied the historic Salem witch trials in other classes, so he is familiar with the setting. When he auditioned for the play, he wasn’t sure he wanted the lead part, “because it is hard to study all the lines,” he says, “but it happened and it works well.”

The part of Reverend Samuel Parris is played by senior Joshua Odom who says the play is his favorite because it is controversial. “This thing had never happened before in the history of the United States,” he says. At first, the Reverend Parris was not his favorite character, but “I get to play an evil character, and up until now I have always been the good guy.”

Emotions in the character of Abigail Adams “are like a roller coaster,” says senior Ashley Newton, who plays the leader of the accusers. She’s happy with her role, one of a deceiver, but at the same time thinking she is a “godly creature.”

She likes it because it has a lot of history, and because it happens in a small town. “It opens the eyes of a lot of people,” she says. Because she also lives in a small community, she understands how “things can get thrown out of perspective.”

Mr. Thorson, who is delighted with how the students are working on the play, adds those in a special stagecraft class, the students designed and built all the sets including the furniture and did all the painting.

Information and tickets: 683-4667, extension 256.