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Strong acting carries 'Crucible'By PETER SMITH© St. Petersburg Times published February 9, 2002 Every high school student who has to read Arthur Miller's occasionally turgid writing will tell you what a rough play The Crucible is, but it is an awfully easy play. Determined to make the audience feel only one way, it is a masochist's version of The Sound Of Music. A jealous girl creates a whirlwind of accusations, madness and tyranny by declaring the wife of the man she loves (among others) a witch in 1692 Salem, not a good place to be accused of that. The acting in this production at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Shimberg Playhouse is rich and deep, but the play is about one thing. Nothing is about only one thing. The best acting here tries to find reality in Miller's inflated language, and it succeeds. Jeff Norton, long one of the Tampa Bay area's best actors and directors, acquits himself well as John Proctor, himself accused while trying to defend his wife. A man who would stand up to God for his wife is a hero, period, but Proctor refuses to accept that idea. There is simply nothing else for him to do. As Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, Colleen McDonnell is so beautiful in her stillness that when she is referred to as plain, you want to look around to see who they are talking about. Never less than intelligent on stage, McDonnell plays a good woman without the slightest tendency to cloy. The Proctors are who they are, which cannot be said for most of the lesser characters in the play, who at best are silly, at worst evil. Katrina Stevenson plays the evil Abigail with a refreshing simplicity. You believe in her because she believes reality is whatever she decides it is. Aaron Berger and Harry Richards play men of the cloth, one trying to protect his turf, the other hoping to save souls. Both are solid performers who hold the audience playing wishy-washy characters, a difficult task. Peter Flynn's direction focuses the audience even when the play falls back on easy tear-jerking. Flynn's ability to keep characters in motion points up McDonnell's stillness even more.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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