the crucible

I have recently reignited my love for "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller. To the extent that I've read it at least twenty times, it is my favorite play. I first discovered it my sophomore year of high school, when I was assigned to work on a scene for an acting class. After school, I would go home and for hours, hours, I would act out scenes from the play in front of the mirror nailed to the back of my bedroom door. My favorites to work on were the scenes between John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth-- a marriage shaken by his infidelity, his desire to be a different man, her need to be seen. Hours. 

I'm so excited because I'm going to be working on "The Crucible" again in my current acting class. And since most directors wouldn't cast a black actress in any of the roles other than Tituba (the "sorceress" slave from Barbados), this might be my only chance to play Elizabeth and honor all of the time I spent shrieking back and forth to myself about witch hunts and the importance of being a good Christian. Hmmm, now if only I could find a way to play John-- the "Because it is my name" howl gives me the jitters just thinking about it.