Ongoing: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Renaissance Theatre Company at City Theatre, October 22 - November 14

UPDATE: Feature by Sarah Pressley for the Daily Texan, October 21

Received directly:

The Renaissance Theatre Company and City Theatre present

THE CRUCIBLE

Arthur Miller’s classic tale of the American theatre

Directed by Stacey Glazer

with Brian Villalobos, Craig Kanne, Laura Ray, Gabriel Smith and B. Iden Payne winners Rachel McGinnis and Angela Loftus.

October 22 – November 14, Thursdays – Saturdays 8:00 p.m. and Sunday 5:30 p.m.

at The City Theatre, 3823 Airport Blvd, Suite D, east corner of Airport Blvd and 38 ½ Street.

For reservations, call 512-524-2870 or contact info@citytheatreaustin.org.

Tickets $15 - $20. Front Row Reserved $25. Thursdays all seats $10. Group and student discounts. www.citytheatreaustin.org

The Renaissance Theatre Company, in cooperation with City Theatre, begins its 2010 – 2011 theatre season with Arthur Miller's American classic The Crucible. Based on the witch trials in Salem, the stage drama begins performances

Hell and heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretenses ripped away. God’s icy wind will blow.

The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s most performed play, was first produced in 1953 and won the Tony Award for Best Play later that year. Set in 1692, it uses the Salem witch hunts as an historical allegory for McCarthy’s blacklisting of Americans and the Red Scare in the 1950’s. The same mob hysteria takes hold in both periods as Miller examines religious intolerance, perversions of justice and the individual’s role in society. The Crucible, which never seems to lose its relevance, explodes with passion, fear, and danger when a group of teenage girls, caught dancing in the forest, take their revenge on their Salem Puritanical society by naming names of townspeople whom they claim are witches.

Known for centering a play around an ordinary man's moral crisis within American society, Miller with his sense of social consciousness gave us some of the greatest dramas of the twentieth century, including All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953) and A View from the Bridge (1955). His extensive list of works spans the last six decades and includes plays, screenplays, novels and essays. Some of his other notable plays include Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Ride Down Mount Morgan (1991), Broken Glass (1994) and Resurrection Blues (2002).

“You never tire of watching a masterpiece and The Crucible proves the point as Arthur Miller’s name may be most singularly associated with great American Theatre,” says production director Stacey Glazer. “Innocent people being accused of crimes they didn’t commit; a dynamic story of fear, courage, religious conviction and personal integrity. It’s hot stuff!” Stacey has also directed The City Theatre productions of The Laramie Project, How the Other Half Loves and the Austin Critic’s Table Award nominee Rabbit Hole.

B. Iden Payne award-winners Rachel McGinnis (as Elizabeth Proctor) and Angela Loftus (as Abigail Williams) lead the cast and introduce Brian Villalobos (as John Proctor). The Crucible features Craig Kanne, Gabriel Smith, Laura Ray, John McNeil, Michelle Alexander with Bridget Farias, Lorella Loftus, Callie Boatman, Carrie Stephens, Nathaniel Reid, Daniel Norton, Clay Avery, Brett Shaw, Dewayne Mangan, Liz Roark, Kati Pike and Mikayla McIntyre.

The City Theatre Company is a non-profit organization and is sponsored in part by the Greater Austin Creative Alliance, the Austin Cultural Arts Division and the AMD Foundation.