The Crucible

Mr. Hansen’s Drama Production class has rehearsed every day during and after 6th period, since the first week of October for their performance of The Crucible. The play premiered in the B building theater on Friday, Dec. 13 and will continue onto Friday, Dec. 20.

“Opening night was amazing. We had a full house and we were so pleased with the crowd,” senior Brenda Lopez, who played Sussana Walcott, said. “The crowd made everyone feel great about their performance.”

Marco Arroyo, who plays John Proctor, the lead role in the play, pleaded last year with Mr. Hansen to allow them to perform The Crucible, and was thrilled when he finally agreed to let them re-enact such a well known and loved play.

“I wasn’t really nervous; I was more anxious than anything,” Marco Arroyo said. “There was a lot of pressure because there’s a bunch of seniors who’ve read it and a bunch of juniors that have just finished it, so it’s scary because they’re all so critical about each character and have their own ideas on what they do and how they act, so I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. That was the most nerve wracking thing.”

Although opening day landed on Friday the 13^th, the young actors were so excited that superstitions did not cross their minds.

Ironically, the bad luck began during their second performance when the fire alarm went off during the 3rd act. It continued to go off for 8 minutes and the actors were upset, but were relieved when Vice Principal, Mr. Zegarra turned the alarm off allowing them to proceed.

The drama class also experienced a few minor accidents such as actors receiving cuts, bruises, nerves getting the best of them and one of the actresses twisting her ankle; however, none of it was noticeable to the audience.

“I think everyone gets nervous on opening night. At one point I blanked out and forgot some of my lines until my friend Marco who plays John Proctor saved me, so thank God for him,” Seleny Jimenez, who plays Marry Warren, shared. “I just looked at him because my eyes were saying ‘Help me’ and he basically just said the next line and it finally clicked.”

When it came to staying in character, nerves were not the only thing that became an obstacle.

“In Act 4 right before they hang me, I have all these lines with my friend Juan who plays the judge, and he’s like my best friend, so we laugh with each other all the time, so once I saw him in the wig I couldn’t take it,” Marco Arroyo said. “It’s hard to be face to face with my best friend in that big white wig, yelling at each other, so that part is probably like the hardest part.”

Injuries, fire alarms, forgotten lines and friendships did not stand in the way of what the audience hailed as a great performance. Their professionalism was evident by how they managed to always pull through without breaking character.