For nearly two years, the Ensemble Actors’ Theatre has been offering audiences a wide range of groundbreaking new works written by company members as well as fresh interpretations of several famous American plays. Now this independent, semi-professional theater company of up-and-coming young artists says farewell to the Columbus theater scene with their final production – Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”
“We created this company in the first place to serve as a forum for ourselves as young actors to experiment with various issues that were of interest to us in our craft,” said Laura Gale, a senior in theater and one of the founding company members of EAT. “In completing our work with the company, it is very much in the spirit of celebration that we go our separate ways, expanding our careers in larger markets.”
Made up of former Ohio State theater students Chris Dickman, Creighton James, Gregory Maier and Gale, who graduates this year, EAT was founded in November 2000. The group has since put on eight plays, five of which have been original works written, produced and directed by members within the company.
Initially, EAT chose scripts that only featured four characters, specifically scripts that had a ratio of three males and one female, Gale said. After a couple of shows, however, everyone was ready to invite in guest actors and incorporate new blood into the productions, she said.
Having studied the Salem Witchcraft Trials and conducting on-site research for several years, James thought it fitting to select “The Crucible” for the company’s final performance.
“I think that it’s the greatest American play. There’s so much passion – nothing really compares to it,” James said. “If you counted the number of plots in this plays, it’s just amazing. There are so many plots and subplots, but it’s not hard to follow – everything is linked so well.”
James has had an interest in working with this play for five years. He and Gale have taken three annual trips to Salem, Mass., visiting the Peabody Essex Museum where original documents from the trials are kept.
“I’m trying to take the play back to what Miller tried to do when he took over the production originally,” James said. “I’ve stripped away all of the comforts, creating a more realistic, minimalistic set. Then the actors have nothing to fall back on. They have to look at each other and deal with each other, which is the focus of what acting really is. That is dealing from moment to moment with another human being and what they are giving you.”
Most of the actors performing in EAT’s production of “The Crucible” have known for some time that they were cast, committing to these roles nearly five or six months ago. This has given actors ample time to research the play and their particular characters in it.
“There’s a lot of respect for the actor’s input in this particular theater,” said Allyson Morgan, a sophomore in theater. “In some theater companies you just take your blocking and your direction from the director, but here everyone has been very open to all kinds of suggestions. It’s really is an ensemble theater.”
With the rigorous rehearsal schedule of practicing seven days a week for the past six weeks, this play promises to be unforgettable and one of the company’s best. Additionally, the production will be accompanied by an original music score written by Gale’s brother, Andrew Simpson.
“A lot of people have said that this play really stands out from other plays that we have done, which were considered much more gritty and in-your-face,” Gale said. “I disagree. I think that ‘The Crucible’ is a very raw, earth-bound play. If the characters are not idealized and romanticized, if their situations are truly confronted – not with all the pageantry but just simplicity and humanity – then it can be a very powerful and explosive play.”
