“He have his goodness now.  God forbid I take it from him.”  This was the last line of Greater Latrobe Senior High School’s fall play The Crucible, spoken by senior Brittany Basenback.  Leaving the audiences in awe, she sat alone on stage in a praying position as she said her final line.  The lights darkened, leaving only the blood-red light from the background as the play came to a close.  Brittany commented that, “It (the play) is a metaphor to show them the existence of life and how life was being torn apart in front of them.” 

This sense of dread and hopelessness was introduced before the cast even entered the stage.  The beginning of the play, much like the ending, opened with intense drama hearing nothing but ominous and haunting music, seeing only the darkness accented by the blood-red light coming from the crack that was in the rock-like backdrop.  With each change of scene, the crack continuously grew larger.  This symbolized the dramatic growth of the play.  With each scene, more and more people were accused of being witches, and more and more lives were being torn apart by Abigail Williams. 

In addition, other special effects were created to enhance the drama.  Effects that sent shivers up the spine of everyone present.  Before the actors entered the stage, when the audience saw nothing but blackness, voices came from backstage and started reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a round, giving the illusion that several people were in different spots at one time.  The serious mood and dramatic voices reciting the well-known prayer, caused anticipation in the audiences they waited for the story to begin.  “It was definitely awesome,” said senior Max Brown about the special effects of the play. 

The cast themselves received positive feedback from their performances.  Courtney Joseph’s intense and amazing portrayal of the antagonist of the play both shocked and impressed the audience at her abilities as an actress.  In another important role, Brittany Basenback’s performance of Elizabeth Proctor, one of the many innocent victims of Abigail’s accusations, portrayed her role as the honorable and devoted wife with determination and exceptional skill.  These performances, along with many others, including an excellent performance from senior Sam Prichard as Deputy- Governor Danforth, and the dynamic portrayal of John Proctor by junior Mickey Orange, are just a few descriptions of the talent that the entire cast showed audiences.

Afterwards, everyone who saw it was sure to congratulate all of the students in the play on a job well done.  Sophomore Hayley Simpson said, “I was definitely impressed!  It was an intense play and the emotion on stage was pretty amazing.  They did a great job with it!”