Welcome to the 2007-2008 season!
Welcome to A View from the Booth. I’m David Wilkerson, the company stage manager at Tennessee Repertory Theatre. In this space, I’ll give you a behind-the-scenes look at what we do here at Tennessee Rep. As we go along, you’ll get to hear about the joys and trials of rehearsals, performances, and everything in between; some local actors, directors, and designers might weigh in; and we just might have a little contest or two! We are very excited about the upcoming season–we’re starting off with The Crucible by Arthur Miller, then It’s a Wonderful Life, a Radio Play, then Edward Albee’s The Goat or, Who is Sylvia, next Doubt, and finally Steve Martin’s adaptation of The Underpants. Hopefully we’ll have some fun while showing you how we make the sausage!
For Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (which goes into rehearsal September 10 and runs October 4-13) we have a wonderful cast:
David Alford–John Proctor
Chip Arnold–Deputy-Governor Danforth
Jenny Littleton–Elizabeth Proctor
Kahle Reardon–Abigail Williams
Tia Shearer–Mary Warren
Sam Whited–Rev. Parris
Jessejames Locorriere–Ezekiel Cheever
Delali Potakey–Tituba
Matt Carlton–Thomas Putnam
Brian Russell–Giles Corey
Eric Pasto-Crosby–Rev. Hale
Michael Montgomery–Francis Nurse
Emmett Furrow–Judge Hathorne
Kevin Shell–Marshall Willard
Rachel Woods–Betty Parris
Cassie Tesauro–Susanna Wallcott
Veronica Longo–Mercy Lewis
Evelyn Blythe–Ann Putnam
Sally Welch–Rebecca Nurse
There are some faces that will be very familiar from recent Tennessee Rep productions, some that hold important places in our history, as well as a good mix of newcomers. 19 actors in all! A little later I’ll post something from director Rene Copeland and scenic designer Gary Hoff about their approaches to this American classic.
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This message is being written in the hope that it will yield good fruit.
I will shortly be playing the role of Judge Hathorne in “The Crucible”, and would greatly appreciate being able to converse with anyone else who has already done this role.
The purpose is two-fold. First, to get more of an idea as to the sort of character I will be portraying. Second: this is the first time I will have ever acted on a stage, so it behooves me to learn as much as possible in order to do a more convincing job of portraying “the hanging Judge”.
If there is anyone reading this message who can put me in touch with another actor who has done this role, they would have my sincerest gratitude. I can be reached at the following email address: dleemandd9@hotmail.com.
Thanking you in advance for any help you can render, I remain,
Sincerely,
Don E. Leeman
Thanks for the comment, Don. I’m forwarding your message to Emmett who is playing Judge Hathorne for us. All the best! David
We had our performances of “The Crucible” at the Rochester Opera House in Rochester, NH.
For an acting debut, it was a thrilling experience. Of that there can be no doubt!
After having researched the real-life Judge Hathorne, I came to the conclusion that he was not the sort of person I would “invite to tea”. He was the only 1 out of the actual 7 Salem judges who never recanted for his deeds (or should I say, “mis-deeds”?). He died in 1717, believing that he did the right thing during the trials.
Such is life. It was no wonder that Nathaniel Hawthorne added the “w” to his name as a means of distancing himself from his great-granfdfather.
Learning these facts about the Judge made it easier to come up with a way of portraying the character: as a man who was not necessarily a “happy camper”. After all, he was the actual senior judge until Danforth arrived on the scene and took charge. This relegated Hathorne to a secondary role, as evidenced by his having to ask Danforth for permission to question Mary Warren on the witness stand!
In any case, I believe I was able to successfully carry it out, portraying him as an “angry” man. For example, there is the part near the end of the play where Reverend Hale is trying to convince Elizabeth Proctor to convince her husband to “confess”. Hale says that “damnation’s doubled on a minister who councils people to lie”, or words to that effect. During our rehearsals, we noticed that the angrier I approached him with the next line, the angrier he became. Instead of merely stating (matter-of-factly) “It is no lie. Do not speak of lies”…..as if it were no more than mild conversation, I wound up shouting it out, as if I was truly angry at Hale. This had the desired effect of Hale responding angrily with “It IS a lie. The children are innocent!” When we worked it out so that we were almost nose-to-nose at that point, it became very convincing.
The thought is… “why” would a judge be shouting at a Minister? (Remember, Hathorne was a local, and he would have known all or most of the characters in real life.) That would occur if the judge were angry, and in this case, it became believable.
Of course, this is merely citing one small part of the play. Our director, Tommy Hensel, never even asked me to change the way I was portraying the character. Perhaps that…more than anything else…validated all of the time and research that was spent on learning about the real Judge Hathorne.
Afterwards, when watching the DVD of the play, we got an even better perspective…that of a spectator. It also allowed us to have a greater appreciation for all of the work that went into the production.
Oddly enough, I tracked down the 1996 film production of “The Crucible”. The man who portrayed Hathorne made the character look like a wimp! I’m not sure there was even a flicker of emotion, and that sort of irked me. After all, if the Judge was angry, why not show it?
In any case, it was an incredible experience, and perhaps I’ll try for the part of Danforth when we do it again in 3 or 4 years. In the meanwhile, it might be wise to look for more plays. This is fun!
Any comments or suggestions you can offer will be greatly appreciated.