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(four out of five stars)
This is a humdinger of a play and with 23 in the cast. Congratulations are due to producer Richard Allen and director Paul Longhurst for the able way the troops are marshalled.
The distinction between superstition, religion and reason is brilliantly brought out and the dialogue in plain English not out of place for 1692.
No use is made of thee, thou, art, etc., for which grateful thanks are given.
The girls are supposed to have danced naked in the forest and to have summoned Satan with their wild perambulations.
The Reverend Samuel Parris (Philip Laughton) has glimpsed his daughter naked as she returns home and she is put to bed in a disturbed state.
A believer in hell fire, he convinces with passion his concern for salvation, tempered with anxiety for his earthly position.
Lotti Davies as his daughter has the difficult task of lying comatose for the first ten minutes.
She is a good screamer, but then ladies seem to have an inbuilt talent for it.
Tituba (Celena Bain), as slave from Barbados, sublimely portrayed her apparent admission that the dancing she taught is evil and that the devil has been summoned.
Alan Merricks as “know all” Thomas Putnam knew that whitchcraft is involved, convincing us that he believes it and is assisted in this by his wife Ann (Fiona Steel).
Abigail Williams (Camilla Rockley) is the ringleader of the bewitched girls and was a maid in the house of farmer John Proctor (Steve Palmer).
They have an affair and are led to believe that, having been shown the door by Mrs. Proctor (Clare Tibbalds), she wreaks her revenge with the accusation that the girls are under the latter’s control.
The uniform repetition of poor Mrs Proctor’s speech and movement by the girls is an effective theatrical device.
The foregoing parts are all handled with sensitivity and passion, especially when Steve Palmer and Clare Tibbalds are involved.
John Bennett, as Giles Corey, is forthright as the curmudgeonly friend of Proctor and suitable bewildered to find his wife tried for witchcraft because she reads books and won’t let him see what they are.
A special word of praise for Jerry Phillips as deputy governor Danforth, who is in charge of the Salem Trials. His phrasing and articulation are of the highest order.
Together with Judge Hathorne (Peter Shore), Marshal Herrick (David Rose) and Ezekiel Cheever (Tony Goddard) they form a formidable acting group.
Elizabeth Callow, as Rebecca Nurse, is a dominating figure, refusing to admit her guilt when such an admission could save her life, and Chris Caplin is suitably learned as the witchcraft expert, the Reverend Hale.
The Barnstormers know their business and their ensemble playing is a delight.
Peter Steptoe
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