THEATER REVIEWS : ‘Crucible’ at OCC: There’s Strength in Tragedy

COSTA MESA — There are some plays that beg for revival on a pretty constant basis. The human race doesn’t learn much from the past and has to be reminded. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is one of those plays.

Miller wrote it in angry protest of the witch hunts conducted by Sen. Joseph R. (Tailgunner Joe) McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, when so many lives were destroyed. Miller’s point is as valid today as it was then, and for the most part, director John Ferzacca’s production in Orange Coast College’s Drama Lab frames Miller’s anger and wisdom well.

The scene is Puritan Salem, Mass., in 1692, when a group of young women, caught dancing in the woods, began relating imaginary memories of spiritual and psychological harassment in order to defend themselves against the slings and arrows of public opinion. The witch hunt was on; many innocents were hanged after refusing to confess.

How well Miller’s historical perspective can apply to each generation depends on how powerfully, and that means how naturalistically, the action in his script is played out. Ferzacca has a good grip on the tragic events in Salem, and if some of the minor roles are not rendered with the bite and honesty they deserve, the major figures stand out sharply, doing the text and the author proud.

Ferzacca’s sense of timing is right on the button. His actors pick up cues brightly when tension calls for it, and his rhythms during the heavier, meatier moments are impeccable.

John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is accused of keeping poppets in the farmhouse in order to work spells. Then John himself is accused by Abigail Williams, a maid-of-all-work who was thrown out by Elizabeth for committing lechery with John. PJ Agnew as Proctor, Rita Renee as Elizabeth and Terri Mowrey as Abigail are the strongest in the cast, caught up in the aura of the period and the innocence that breeds their doom. Solid performances all.

George Almond, as the Salem minister who acts as the McCarthy figure, has a realistically sincere exterior, beneath which the embers of hatred and fear glow intensely. Melissa Cook easily balances young Mary Warren’s unwitting and terrified shifts from one political camp to another, and Cristina Rabano has several fine moments as the Barbadian black from whose exoticism the false accusations spring.

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Michael Hebler is a bit mannered in the beginning as the Rev. Hale, who turns from religious firebrand to regretful defender of the damned, but he calms down as the action progresses and is very effective. So is Tom Titus as Deputy Gov. Danforth, who tries the victims; he captures the pomposity and anger of the character well, missing only the senses of intelligent responsibility and kindness that often confuse this basically good man, who cannot in good conscience wander from the letter of the law.

If David Dunbrack’s lighting design is generally too bright throughout for the mood and look of the production, and if many of the minor actors seem a bit at odds with the text (particularly a young marshal with red streaks like Indian war paint on his face), the core of the company makes up for it.

* “The Crucible,” Drama Lab, Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m. Ends Sunday. $6-$9. (714) 432-5880. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

PJ Agnew: John Proctor

Terri Mowrey: Abigail Williams

Rita Renee: Elizabeth Proctor

Melissa Cook: Mary Warren

Michael Hebler: Rev. John Hale

George Almond: Rev. Samuel Parris

Tom Titus: Deputy Gov. Danforth

Cristina Rabano: Tituba

An Orange Coast College Department of Theatre Arts production of Arthur Miller’s drama, directed by John Ferzacca. Scenic design: David Scaglione. Lighting design: David Dunbrack. Costume design: Donna Mae Dickens. Stage manager: Pilou Chapeaud.