The Oak Park and River Forest High School Theater Department will present Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible” – “a timeless show that has a recurring message that gets increasingly more important throughout history,” said junior Henry Lombardo, who plays the lead role, John Proctor.

The play will run for two weekends in the Little Theater, Sept. 27 and 28 and Oct. 3 and 4. All shows are at 7 p.m.

Linda Burns, a teacher in the history department, is the director. “There is a lot in the play about truth, and what is the truth about me, and why it matters to tell the truth about me,” Burns said.

“The Crucible” was written by Arthur Miller in the 1950s during the Red Scare, a time when fear of communism and Russian influence was on the rise due to the Cold War.

Government officials as well as private citizens, including artists and writers, were questioned by government committees about their ties to communism. Miller saw people losing their jobs and reputations as a result of these interrogations. A Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, led many of the investigations, asking people to confess or name names. Many people were betraying others for a shot at self preservation. 

Miller saw what this was doing to people and wanted to explore why people do what they do; he wrote “The Crucible” as a response to what he saw using the Salem Witch trials that took place in the 1600s as an allegory. In the play there are a lot of questions about morality and when to tell the truth–and what actually is the truth. 

Burns reread the play during the summer and rediscovered her love for the story. Burns has always wanted to direct it, saying, “It’s just a beautiful, beautiful play. It’s beautifully written.” 

Burns said she feels it is important to do this play now because it can be closely tied to what’s happening in our world. “It is a play about paranoia and how stories, beliefs get accelerated and spread…and that’s what’s happening in our country right now,” Burns said. 

Lombardo agreed, saying that it is important to continue this story because of what it can teach people about the world even today. 

Burns and the actors have been exploring how to interpret the story. According to Burns, Miller wrote “The Crucible” as more abstract, shifting away from naturalism in his writing. He wanted it to be unlike anything he ever did in the past. 

Burns is planning on “exploding” this idea by having  the actors be on the stage the entire time. The actors will be doing slight costume shifts and moving the set pieces around. She is also making sure the lighting represents the mood, because Miller describes how the lighting is very important in the play. 

The actors have also been working on their character choices. “The work we’ve put into this play to really dig into each and every character, each and every moment and scene of the show has been beautiful to watch blossom,” Lombardo said. A junior at OPRF who has been acting since he was 9 years old, Lombardo is also co-president of the sign language club and runs cross country and track.

“The emotional twist and break in John Proctor is something I’ve been playing with,” he said. “[It’s] something I absolutely love doing.”

Ishita Ritchie is a senior who has done seven shows at OPRF, plays Reverend John Hale, an expert on witchcraft brought to Salem to help the townspeople determine whether witches are really in their midst. The 20 actors that are cast in the show each have their own distinct and complicated character, Ritchie said.  “I think everybody that she cast in this show is perfect in that role.”