Out from The Crucible

Yesterday, while unpacking a box, I came across my doctoral thesis entitled “ROBERT WARD’S THE CRUCIBLE: A CRITICAL COMMENTARY”.  I, inadvertently, opened it to discover a letter from Robert Ward dated September 21, 1986 (40 years ago?). GOLLY!

Documentation:

from an earlier post:

In the 1980’s, I  became closely associated with a Pulitzer prize winning opera (The Crucible) by Robert Ward based upon a play by the same name by Arthur Miller. I sang roles in two productions; interviewed Robert Ward and his librettist, Bernard Stambler; and wrote my doctoral document on The Crucible. Then in the first decade of the 21st Century, I directed the courtroom scene at OSU.

The play points to two of the darkest periods in American history:  the Salem Witchcraft trials, and McCarthyism of the 1950’s. In 1996, the play was made into a full length film directed by

Nicholas Hytner and starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder.

The Crucible is a powerful drama based upon actual events of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 where innocent people were falsely accused of witchcraft and were found guilty and hanged.  Within this repressive community, those questioned reverted to name-calling that was considered a guarantee of sincerity and a sign of spiritual redemption. 

40 years? Golly.

CPW