In English class this year, we studied the spooky and suspenseful play by Arthur Miller entitled, The Crucible. Even better than reading it, we got to witness it first hand in Collingwood’s new state of the art Darlene S. Howard Theatre. The Howard Theatre was under construction for quite some time, and for most of us, The Crucible was the grand unveiling of the state of the art theatre. It is exciting to wonder how many more spectacular plays and musicals will come in this new theatre.
Directed by Michael Wener and Michael Shaldemose, the all-star cast led by Alex Lara, Michael Williams, Alana Davies, and Dorrin Rehyani, put on an excellent performance. I saw the November 25th matinee, in which the production team allowed me to embark on a journey to 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts with minimal set pieces, which was quite effective!
Overall, the play was very well done and it was very interesting, after reading the original play in English class, to see the directors and actor’s perspective on the classic yet timeless piece. For example, it was obviously well-rehearsed multiple times as the actors perfected the delivery and portrayed the right emotions to the audience throughout their performances. One of the stand out performances, as usual, was none other than grade twelve thespian Alex Lara who played the lead role of John Proctor.
The following is an interview with Alex. He was open to sharing his opinions on playing John Proctor and using the new Howard Theatre.
CA:How did you prepare for the role?
AL:To prepare for the role I practiced a lot and learned my lines early and just kinda learning to be serious in the scenes.
CA: What was your favourite part about playing John Proctor?
AL: My favourite part about playing John Proctor was all the yelling.
CA: What was the most difficult part of the performance for you?
AL: The hardest part was my last big speech and trying to be real with the emotion without being too over the top.
CA:What’s your perspective on the new theatre?
AL: The new theatre is amazing; how you can configure the seats and everything however we want.
There is no doubt that the Collingwood theatre program has a very bright future in a very new and bright theatre. Speech day will utilize the space, as will the upcoming production of Grease! For more on Grease check out Sophie Yehia’s story in which she interviews director Ms. Cara Tench.
By: Connor Anderson
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