There are lots of reasons to revisit Arthur Miller’s retelling of the Salem Witch Trials, “The Crucible.” McCarthyism and other political witch-hunts — the metaphorical underpinning of Miller’s play — are a hot topic again. January marked the 65th anniversary of “The Crucible”’s debut. This year is also the 70th anniversary of when the Manhattan-born Miller moved to Roxbury, where he lived until his death in 2005.
The suspense in this historical drama is not supernatural — it comes from social nature. How much do we trust our neighbors? How much will we do to help them? How much do we want to see them suffer?
There’ve been several big productions of “The Crucible” in Connecticut over the years, including at Hartford Stage in 2011. “The Crucible” was the first show ever staged at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre in 1965.
Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s production, Feb. 22 through March 4 at the Nafe Katter Theatre, 802 Bolton Road. on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, takes place in an arena setting, with the audience surrounding the actors. It should feel like community, and also like a courtroom trial. Paul Mullins returns to CT Rep to direct this ever-timely drama, which features two professional New York actors: James Sutorius as Danforth and Michael Rudko as Giles Corey.
Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; plus Wednesday Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday March 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $35. 860-486-2113 and crt.uconn.edu.
Manual Cinema Returns
If you saw the premiere of Manual Cinema’s “The End of TV” at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, you saw how they can create beautiful, complex stories that can get harsh or loud yet contain an underlying calm and beauty. The Chicago-based troupe’s techniques include shadow puppetry, projections, live musical accompaniment and theatrical effects.
The group’s best-known performance piece, “Ada/Ava,” makes its Connecticut debut 8 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Wesleyan Center for the Arts, on the Wesleyan University campus at 283 Washington Terrace, Middletown. “Ada/Ava” involves aging, grief and fantasy escapes.
Tickets are $28, $26 for students and seniors. 860-685-3355 and wesleyan.edu/cfa/.
Reading ‘Colossus’
Playhouse on Park’s “Playwrights on Park” new works series continues Feb. 27 with the 7:30 p.m. reading of “When Colossus Falls” by Eugenie Carabatsos. The
play’s official description is this: “The Riverview B&B hasn’t seen a guest in ages. When one finally arrives, the inhabitants’ lives are thrown into a tailspin as they try to figure out who she is, why she’s there, and what she’s doing walking through the rubble from a burned down building across the street.”
“When Colossus Falls,” previously titled “Rubble,” won the University of Tulsa’s WomenWorks playwriting competition in 2015.
Playhouse on Park is at 244 Park Road, West Hartford. Tickets to the reading are $10. 860-523-5900 and playhouseonpark.org.
