by Tony Annicone
Trinity Repertory Company’s opening show of their 60th season is “The Good John Proctor” by Talene Monahan. The show is a prequel to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” as Monahan imagines the inner lives of the four young girls whose accusations led to the witchcraft trials in Salem, MA, in 1692. The girls were pre-teens, but in this show, they are portrayed by adult actors and told from their viewpoint. All the girls in real life were actually much younger; Abigail Williams was 11 years old; her cousin, Betty Parris, was nine years old; young high-strung Mercy Lewis sought solace in alcohol while Mary Warren was an epileptic orphan. When Abigail started working for 60-year-old farmer John Proctor, their lives started to unravel from playing with poppets and churning butter into something completely unexpected. However, John Proctor doesn’t appear in this play at all. Director Kimberly Senior casts these four roles beautifully and elicits stunning performances from all of them.
Monahan looks at these events through the eyes of the current day by exposing the restrictive society of the past in dealing with the adolescence of these girls. Sometimes the script gets murky and can be confusing at times for the audience. This show reveals the provincial attitudes, the patriarchal strictness, and the religious zealotry running rampant back then. She mixes some comic moments with poignant ones into the show to display a look at the repressive methods. It points out that some of that same behavior can be witnessed today. If these past events could be seen without ignorance or prejudice, matters might have turned out differently with kindness and compassion. The play is a series of vignettes changing from scene to scene.
Betty Parris (Deanna Myers) and Abigail (Rebecca-Anne Whitaker) are best friends. Whitaker does a marvelous job and is charming as this young girl who remembers why her mother descended into melancholy. Myers is also impressive as Abigail, who delves into the horror of her life at the Proctor home. The girls live together with Betty’s parents, Reverend Parris and his wife. He’s very busy, and his wife has no time for the girls, being wrapped up in her own despair of the past. So, they churn butter, play games about Kings consorting with peasants, and with dolls called “poppets,” and other things young girls discuss, including menstruation. Some salty language is contained in this show. The name-calling comes as a result of being misled by the mores of that time.
They have another 12-year-old friend, Mercy, who is a functioning alcoholic played poignantly and comically by Lori Nega, who steals many a scene with her bawdy language and behavior. Mercy also sees evil everywhere, which is probably due to her drinking. Mercy is already a maid and finds out Abigail has become a maid for the Proctor family. It is here Betty meets Mary Warren, an older girl from Maine who recently lost her spiritualist mother. Resident actress Rachael Warren tackles the role with gusto, making her a strong, whimsical, and enigmatic character. Mary likes to venture into the woods, which has been forbidden. As Mary and Betty’s friendship grows, Abigail feels that her life is falling apart and wishes to grow closer to Mary. How will Mary help Abigail put her life back together and, in doing so, might bring disaster to Salem? Rachael delivers a stunning monologue near the end of the show, which is followed by an epilogue to show what happens 15 years later.
Senior blocks the show excellently and brings out the best in her cast. Stage manager Kelsy Emry keeps things running smoothly during the show. The block box two-story set design is by Michael McGarty, with the best one revealed at the end of the show. The costumes are by Shahrzad Mazaheri, the lighting is by Dawn Chiang, and the sound by Joanna Lynne Staub. For tickets, go to their website, trinityrep.com All these elements come together to create a stunning opening show for Trinity’s 60th Season, which audiences can savor and enjoy. This show will be performed in repertory with “Becky Nurse of Salem” which opens in a couple of weeks.
THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR (7 September to 12 November)
Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI
(401) 351-4242
