I actually really like the plot of this story. It kind of reminds me of books that you might have to read for literature back in school. Maybe because I am also familiar with the works of Miller, the ending did not come as a surprise to me. Miller tends to go for bitter sweet endings and unfortunately, in this case, the death of protagonist John Proctor. Although he died, he held on to his integrity and redeemed his earlier failings. 

The set is fairly simple, it is the same main structure throughout the acts with 3 chairs and a table to recreate the living room. At first I thought it was a little weird that all the chairs were mismatched. There was a rocking chair, a more sturdy looking chair and lastly, just an ordinary plain chair. But thinking back, I think it is used to symbolise the different status in the family and a reflection of the characters. The wife is symbolised by the rocking chair, a domestic symbol. The husband, the sturdy support and the "man of the household". And lastly, the ordinary chair to host the visitor when the reverend visited, a neutral party.

I never really notice such things before, but after working on some films myself, I realised that I subconciously started to analyse why certain props are used. In the words of Anton Chekhov, 'If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there". This comes from the concept that each element in the play should exist for a purpose. I think this is especially relevant for plays as you do not want to overcrowd the stage as space is already liminal.

There was also no curtain block during half time either. So it was the actors themselves that moved the furnitures. I remember in one of their transition, they played the sound of children laughter, and had a few of the girl actresses dancing and laughing as they played and moved the furnitures around. This combination reminds me of a cross between those piercingly sweetly music that often accompanies ice cream trucks in a horror movie and the mischievous fairies in Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream.

As depicted in the pictures below, lighting also played a huge part in creating the atmosphere.


What is interesting is that as the play progresses, we see the wooden beam that holds the roof slowly collapse with each act. Perhaps this is to suggest the decline of society as hysteria grew among them and more and more people were accused of witchcraft and hanged. Instead of standing united as one community, they started turning against one another. This physical collapse of the home structure could be a microcosm of the Puritan society and a representation for the failing government system.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play because considering the limited space, they have managed to subtly incorporate clues to foreshadow the demise of the characters through the design that when first seen does not strike us as peculiar.

The attention to detail is immaculate as well because even the props are done with so much thought and soul. Here is an up-close of prop that I managed to sneak a picture of backstage. This was an action prop, but the stage is so far away that I do not think anyone would be able to see the content of the book itself, yet they still took the extra effort instead of leaving the pages blank.


Oh, and guess who I met! Camila! For those of you who do not know who she is, she is my go-to photoshop girl. We used to be in the same foundation year in Central Saint Martins, and then later Year 1 classmates in Wimbledon College of Arts. Back when she was still in London, we used to go watch musicals together and we also worked together on the stop motion animation. (You can read this on the blog) It is such a shame that she decided to transfer out to Vancouver, Canada. But at least I got to visit her. And in this generation, if you do not take a selfie together, then did the meeting actually happen? Haha. Hi Camilla! :)