Yet again, the theater department of our school makes an astonishing fall debut. This year, they decided on The Crucible, a story by Arthur Miller based on the true events of the Salem witch trials. Since starting rehearsals in early September, the cast and crew have been hard at work creating the spooky forest set and rehearsing intense scenes. This show is perfect for Halloween, retelling the supernatural and mysterious story of the Salem girls.
At rehearsals, the atmosphere was vibrant. Cast members were buzzing and couldn’t wait for opening night. Recently-promoted stage manager Payton Cooper has a difficult job that comes with a lot of stress and tasking time management.
“I’m usually in the back of the [auditorium]. I make sure everything is running smoothly, calling cues, meaning if someone needs to run something on or lighting cue needs to go on, I’m calling it from the back,” Cooper said.
Cooper has a strong team backing him, praising their accomplishments from last year.
“During my junior year, we won a Cappy’s award, which is the DMV award for theater. Yorktown got nominated 17 times, tech got nominated for nine of those, and we won sound and two other acting awards,” Cooper said.
Making sure everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be and everything looks ready for the play can be a lot for the tech team to deal with.
“Of course, during opening night, you’re filled with nerves, but once you’re done with the first show, it gets a lot easier and becomes muscle memory,” Cooper said.
The whole cast was extremely excited to start this play, but one actor stuck out in particular. Carson Knowles is a senior at our school who has made her passion for the theater very clear over her many years of performing.
“I’ve been acting since elementary school but started doing Yorktown productions in my sophomore year and it’s been amazing,” Knowles said.
For Knowles, the Yorktown theater has been the best team and department she’s been a part of. She loves it here and the relationships it brings. This has always been more than just a theater department in Knowles’ eyes. She mentioned how close this group is and the friends she’s built while on the play. Surprisingly this was not what stuck out to her most about the department.
“My favorite part would have to be the opportunities that it brings. Last year we got to perform a song from one of our musicals at the Kennedy Center,” Knowles said.
The Yorktown theater department is incredibly talented, and it shows in their productions. Although the crew is already incredibly talented, they have to be ready to put in countless hours of preparation in order to make the production opening night-ready.
“Once rehearsals start, I’m at school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then I go to rehearsals until 6 p.m. Basically I’m at school from 8-6 for at least two weeks,” Knowles said.
This cast had big shoes to fill this year, as many of their past productions have been award winning. Knowles notes how impressive of a cast they have put together.
“We have a really great cast this year and overall a great team backing us up. I’m really excited for these upcoming shows so we can finally see all the hard work we’ve put in all year long,” Knowles said.
Opening night for this show was a spectacle to see. The set is filled with handmade cardboard trees to resemble the forest that the salem girls dance in during the first scene of the play. Senior Katie Shore, who was cast as Abigail Williams, is incredibly talented in her role. We first recognize her during the first scene, with a blood-covered mouth and a chilling laughter.
“This is the first time I’m in an actual role, which I’m so happy about. The biggest difference between being a main role and ensemble is the commitment outside rehearsal. Having to learn over 100 lines is more of a challenge, but getting to be a big part of the play is really fun,” Shore said.
This fall play is the first in many years to be a serious show. Previous fall plays include The Play That Goes Wrong and Puffs, which showcase the comedic range of our school’s actors. However, theater director Alani Kravitz explains that she wanted to make a different type of show for her fourth year as the director.
“I wanted to challenge both myself and our department by doing a show that is extremely dramatic. It is a very dark show, and that challenge really fascinated me. Also, I love all things dark, history, folklore and the Salem witch trials have always been really fascinating to me,” Kravitz said.
The show had a tough job to do after switching genres completely, but they proved that their cast and crew could take the challenge. The show was a delightfully mysterious opening to Halloween, and we are excited to see what else the theater department has for us in the coming year.
