'THE CRUCIBLE' SALEM WITCH TRIALS HIT THE STAGE TONIGHT.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer PALMDALE - Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning account of the Salem witch trials Salem witch trials (May–October 1692) American colonial persecutions for witchcraft. In the town of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, several young girls, stimulated by supernatural tales told by a West Indian slave, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused - his response to anti-Communist hysteria in the 1950s - opens tonight at the Palmdale Playhouse. As part of the annual Cultural, Historical, Educational Drama Series, the Palmdale City Players will perform ``The Crucible'' at 8 p.m. tonight, Saturday, May 5 and 6 and at 2 p.m. Sunday and May 7. ``This is a great chance for us to entertain and educate,'' said marketing specialist for the Palmdale Playhouse Jana Bitton. ``People can both experience the event and be drawn into a compeling story.'' The drama tells a fictionalized version of how the witch hunts began in the 17th century Salem, Mass., when a group of rebellious teenaged girls, under pressures from the elders of a strict Puritan society, dance and conjure spirits with a slave from Barbados. When the elders discover their actions, the teenagers - to protect themselves - accuse others of bewitching be·witch tr.v. be·witched, be·witch·ing, be·witch·es 1. To place under one's power by or as if by magic; cast a spell over. 2. To captivate completely; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. them. Soon cries of witchcraft consume the entire village. Composed in 1952, the play was Miller's response to Senator Joseph McCarthy Noun 1. Joseph McCarthy - United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists (1908-1957) Joseph Raymond McCarthy, McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee's crusade against supposed communist sympathizers. The Playhouse has organized free performances for high school classes. Many high school literature teachers require the reading of the play as part of their curriculum so the performance is designed to enhance the understanding of the material for those students. Tickets to the performance are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, military and students, and $8 for youth 12 and younger and are available at the box office, 38334 10th Street East, or by calling (661) 267-5685. An American sign language American Sign Language n. The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. American Sign Language (ASL), n. interpreter will sign at the Sunday matinee performances for the hearing impared. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) K.M. Treanor portrays The Rev. Samuel Parris Samuel Parris (1653 – February 27, 1720) was the Puritan minister in Salem Village (now Danvers) Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials, as well as the father to one of the supposedly afflicted girls, and uncle of another. and Steven Willis plays the part of Thomas Putman on Thursday in the Palmdale Playhouse performance of "The Crucible crucible, vessel in which a substance is heated to a high temperature, as for fusing or calcining. The necessary properties of a crucible are that it maintain its mechanical strength and rigidity at high temperatures and that it not react in an undesirable way with ," before more than 300 Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley School District students at the Community Arts Center. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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