Background to the Diary

This section focuses on the creation of The Crucible in the rehearsal room – from the page to the stage.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Anna Mackmin (Director), David Newman (Resident and Assistant Director), and The Crucible company for their kindness in allowing us to observe their rehearsals.

The diary follows the four week rehearsal period and in certain sections we focus on the development of Act Three, pages 99 to 105 (Penguin Edition). In summary, from the point Elizabeth Proctor enters the Courtroom through to the end of the act.

The characters and actors involved in this scene are:-

Rehearsals - General

The Crucible production will be rehearsed over a four week period, following which the company move into technical rehearsals on the stage where sound and light are added to the running of the play. The cast rehearse from Monday to Friday, normally from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. but evening rehearsals can be added up to as late as 9.00 p.m.

In addition, whilst rehearsals are progressing, the cast will be called to work with many other areas of the production. They are called to Wardrobe for costume fittings which are coordinated by Lez Brotherston, the Designer and Nikki Meredith, the Costume Supervisor. The Designer will also call the cast for wig fittings. They will all work with the Dialect Coach, Neil Swain and individuals may be called to work with the Musical Director and Composer, Grant Parsons, although the whole company will also all work with Grant in certain rehearsals. The cast will also be called for interviews with press and for marketing purposes. The Stage Manager and Deputy Stage Manager, Di Stalker and Emma Cameron, coordinate these arrangements to ensure that all the needs of the production are met.

Emma also remains in the rehearsal room constantly, working alongside the Director and the company. Emma runs the stage manager’s ‘Book’ in which she marks down all the moves and in which the sound, light and cast call cues are later added. She also takes notes of any needs the production may have during rehearsals. For example, if a certain light cue is needed or a certain prop is required and she contacts the relevant departments, as necessary.

Week One – Day One

On day one of rehearsals the cast meet for the very first time in the Lyceum rehearsal room where they will rehearse for the next four weeks. The Designer was also in attendance and he and Anna explained to the cast how the set will look and work. On this day, the cast also read through the entire play for the first time together.

Michael Beint as Francis Nurse, Ian Bartholomew as Deputy-Governor Danforth, Amelia Bullmore as Elizabeth Proctor, Andrew Frame as Ezekiel Cheever and John Dougall as Reverend Samuel Parris in The Crucible, photograph by Manuel Harlan

Week One – First rehearsal of selected scene

When any scene is rehearsed for the first time the Director, Anna Mackmin, encourages the company to read through the whole scene first. They then discuss issues arising from it as a group. In this scene Danforth’s character is discussed with contributions made by all members of the company. Primarily, they discuss Danforth’s need to disbelieve being as large as John Proctor’s need to believe; matching the two men in terms of stakes and power.

After the discussion the scene is ‘put up on its feet’. As Anna has already told us in her interview, she has a skeleton of the staging and positions already in her mind and she places the actors in the space, explaining her reasons and thinking behind these choices. For example, in relation to power status and the clarity of angles, Anna talks to Ian Bartholomew, who is playing Danforth, about the specific power points on a thrust stage and how they are very different to a proscenium arch stage. Primarily the main power points are centre stage, vom angles and diagonals.

Anna also talks of the shifts in tone of the piece which equal a shift in movement and encourages the cast to ‘have a go and run the scene’.

So the actors try out the scene for the first time, finding moments to move and moments to remain. On their feet they consider who their focus is on and why and try out these very early ideas.

After the run, Anna gives notes to the company. She talks about how the stakes in this scene are incredibly high and that the company need to ‘up’ those stakes. She talks about how ‘the bird’ moment is written in the text statically and that is a clue as to how it can be played i.e. very concentrated, still and focused.

Anna also wants to focus the movements of the girls so that they are tighter and they move backwards and sideways in the courtroom. This is to create tension in the room whereby others have to also move in response.

The company discuss if they are really seeing the birds and about the spreading of mania and how that manifests itself physically. From this discussion they create a stage image of the girls as a flock of birds and vocally we hear the same in their repetition of words and lines. In short, they discuss the style and the pitch of the acting.

As individuals the company then talk about characterisation and how they feel that Abigail is ridding John Proctor of a snivelling wife. They also discuss the effect her presence has on John Proctor and that when Elizabeth Proctor says ‘she has an arrow in you yet, John Proctor, and you know it well’, that we should see that - that it’s real.

Anna also talks about John Proctor denouncing God in the ‘God is dead’ moment at the end of the act. They discuss how this represents the loss of his faith and how to take someone’s faith away has to be one of the worst things that you could do to a person. It is from this that we see ‘the crazy little children are jangling the keys of the kingdom’ – it happens before our eyes.

The company also discuss the power games between Danforth and Proctor and their separate ways of handling Mary Warren – so each is trying to pull her their way and the tension that creates.

Week Two – Second rehearsal of selected scene

Anna is now running rehearsals for each section/unit in certain timeslots. Some actors are already off-script although this is the personal choice of the actor. If they require a prompt then Emma, the Deputy Stage Manager, will provide it.

The company do a run of the scene first and from this you can see the staging ideas the company has created. Anna notes that the scene ‘is in really good shape’ and gives additional notes to the company.

Firstly, she talks to the company about the movement of the girls during ‘the bird’ moment. She would like to see what happens if they change some of the moves with the possibility that they scatter and go down to the floor as ‘the bird’ comes down. At the moment she feels that what they have, whilst very good, looks ‘too safe’. She wants to try it with them in the middle of the floor – right in amongst everything, creating chaos.

Rebekah Staton as Mercy Lewis, Kitty Randle as Susanna Walcott, Michael Gould as Reverend John Hale, Sinéad Matthews as Abigail Williams and Bryony Hannah as Betty Parris in The Crucible, photograph by Manuel Harlan

The girls and Anna look at the text to see where these moves could happen and they make the decision to use the repetitions of ‘stop it’ for their cues. Additionally, the final ‘stop it’ is to become so much bigger than before and is their cue to run, as chaotically as possible and flop to the floor like ragdolls. Before the movement has been staged much more organically but chaos on stage needs some choreography. The importance of the moment is also discussed and noted so we see ‘the little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom’.

The end of the act is discussed in terms of the exits and the cue of ‘take him to jail’ is noted by the company. The scene is then tried again from Hale’s line on page 100 ‘Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell’ to the end of the choreography the girls have just worked on which ends at the beginning of page 103.

After the run, the girls and Anna discuss whether those changes have worked to improve the scene. They all think that there is more to be found so make new choices as to how the movement and scene can be improved and played. Little moments are touched upon to make the playing real such as Anna noting that the screaming needs to be bigger as this is such an important instant reaction and that the girls breathing needs to be affected by ‘the bird’ and by the hysteria in the moment.

Anna then decides to let the majority of the company go home as it is now 8.30 p.m. and it has been an extremely long, but fruitful, day's work. She then works alone with the girls to choreograph the piece fully but also notes that they need to find the reasons to move, not just the moves alone. Firstly though they start with the feet. The girls, Sinéad, Kitty, Rebekah and Bryony all offer suggestions and solutions and they work together with the Director. Anna wants the moves to be like smoke which interweaves itself amongst the courtroom and whilst she works with the girls she has an eye on where else the rest of the company are on the stage as further amendments in moves may have to be made with them when it is run next. She asks Emma to give her precise locations of the rest of the cast on stage which Emma can easily do as she has jotted all these down in the stage manager's ‘Book’. As the rest of the cast has left, the Resident and Assistant Director, David Newman, reads in the lines and then the new shape and all the new moves are jotted down again by Emma.

Mark Penfold as Judge Hathorne, Douglas Henshall as John Proctor, Ian Bartholomew as Deputy-Governor Danforth, Lyndsey Marshal as Mary Warren and Michael Beint as Francis Nurse in The Crucible, photograph by Manuel Harlan

Week Three

In week three the scenes are put together to form a full act. As we know The Crucible is four separate acts and in our production an interval will be held between Acts Two and Three.

Throughout the week the full company are called and they add together for the very first time, all of the sections/units of the act that they have worked on separately. The week is then spent trying to find the flows, peaks and crescendos of the acts in their entirety.

Every day the company go through each act in finer detail, consolidating the work they have done in weeks one and two, whilst further exploring and working sections that don’t yet feel quite right. The company work in minute detail – reworking moments in light of their now extended knowledge of the play. This detailed work continues into week four.

The Lighting Designer, Paul Pyant, and Sound Designer, Paul Arditti, also attend rehearsals in weeks three and four. They are working constantly both in and out of the rehearsal room – watching, creating and designing.

The company also have specific rehearsals with Grant Parsons, the Musical Director, and they work on the singing of the psalms which will be led by Ruby Turner, who plays Tituba.

Week Four

In week four the acts are put together to form the first and second halves of the play. The company discover, and work on, how the end of each act affects the beginning of the next. They work on finding the energy of the piece and how that changes the dynamics of the beginning and the ends of acts. Again they work in minute detail and rework moments that still are not quite right.

Towards the end of the week the company will run the whole play for an invited audience. For example staff from our Marketing Department attend so that subsequent communication with the press is informed by seeing the production. The Marketing Team also look for potential extracts, following discussions with the director, which can be used for photo and filming calls.

Runs of the play continue towards the end of the week and, after each run, the company continue to work on individual moments, however minute, that need extra attention.

Meanwhile the set is being constructed on stage. Paul Pyant, the Lighting Designer, and his team start to rig the lights from detailed plans. Once the lights are in place they ‘plot’ specific lighting states. On the Sunday before the technical week he and Anna work with the lighting, looking at the visual design of the storytelling.

Ian Bartholomew as Deputy-Governor Danforth in The Crucible, photograph by Manuel Harlan

Tech Week

During tech week the company leave the rehearsal room and work in the auditorium and on stage. This time is for the technicians and designers to rehearse their contribution to the production and for the actors to work for the first time on stage.

Costumes and wigs are worn and adjustments can be made for a variety of reasons by the Designer and Costume Supervisor.

Sound is added to the production and each cue is rehearsed and noted in the stage manager’s book for cueing during the run of the show. They test the volume of each individual sound effect as well as the length of time it is played for. Anna and Paul Arditti ensure that the sound enhances the production with notes and changes made as necessary.

In the same way, light is added to the production. Each specific state, including timing and length of cue, is keyed into the main control point which is referred to as the board. Cues are noted in the stage managers ‘book’.

The production is then run, stopping and starting where appropriate. The calls for actors and technicians are Monday to Wednesday from 9.30 a.m. to sometimes after 10.00 p.m. On Monday and Tuesday the days are taken with running the show technically. Additionally, on the Tuesday our production photographer, Manuel Harlan, attends in the evening to take photographs which will be used in publicity material.

On Wednesday morning the technicians work on alterations to the set, lighting or sound whilst the actors have notes with the Director. In the afternoon the actors are called for costume and a technical dress rehearsal takes place with notes at the end. On the Wednesday evening we open up the full dress rehearsal to the public and the creative team watch the show with an audience for the very first time.

The production will then be shown in previews on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday night. The creative team watch all of these performances and further changes are made where appropriate.

On Tuesday 10 February the production opens to the press and public.

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