Salem witch trials come to Havre High

Witches, devils, dances and flying spirits - a 17th century Massachusetts town gone wild with accusations and hangings.

"The Crucible," the 1953 play by Arthur Miller based on the 1692 and 1693 Salem witch trials, will be performed by Havre High School student actors today, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The student actors, all but one clad in black costumes, had their last rehearsal Wednesday after school. Director and drama teacher Angela Pratt told the young group of actors, among many things, to make a habit of refraining from speaking after walking offstage.

"You don't want to end up in the bathroom, peeing with the microphone still on," she said.

The play opens with the sound of laughing adolescent girls and chirping night crickets, as the curtains remain closed and ominous music fills the dark auditorium. As the curtains slowly part, the music fades and the laughing stops. A bed supporting a comatose girl and a group of worrisome characters that surround the girl are revealed, and the audience quickly learns something has gone wrong.

Pratt said she has heard "The Crucible" is not a play for high school students.

"I've been told many times, 'You probably shouldn't be doing this at the high school level,'" she said.

But she said she has confidence the students can handle the difficult act.

"I've seen what they can do and thought it was time to push them. They really rose to the occasion. It was scary at times, but they did it," she said.

Pratt said the key to this play is to have many good male actors. And this year, she said, she had them.

Pratt said she has loved "The Crucible" ever since she read it in literature class when she was in high school in Havre.

"I've always been fascinated by the Salem witch trials - I love that era of time. There's something about it," she said.

A lot of time was put into the play. Rehearsal started after Christmas break. They used a difficult technique a friend who studied in Paris taught Pratt. One of the main parts of the technique is that no script is ever allowed onstage.

During the three-act rehearsal Wednesday, one of the actors began vomiting backstage. It wasn't nerves. It was a flu-like sickness.

But the show must go on.

Pratt said they'll figure something out. If the actor can't make it to any of the performances, someone might pick up some of the lines to make for a smooth transition. She said when an entire section was missed by the actors during rehearsal, it wasn't even noticeable. She was pleased with that.

The last thing rehearsed was the bows. Everyone then sat down on the stage edge to talk about what happened.

Overall, Pratt was pleased.

"They're as ready as they're ever going to be," she said.

Despite some of the actors projecting "low energy," she said it's nothing to worry about. The audience will invigorate the actors come performance night.

Pratt beamed when talking about acting. She said it is sad that the arts are consistently the type of programs school districts cut when money becomes an issue. She said she is glad there is no talk of that in Havre. More so, she said, she is glad she is able to do what she does and take part with such a talented group of students.

As the auditorium emptied out, some of the student actors were lingering around, laughing and clowning around. Pratt pointed to a student with "shiny shoes" and talked about how he arrived in Havre not long ago, timid, without the slightest drop of courage to ever speak in front of an audience.

For the next three nights, the student with the shiny shoes will be speaking onstage.

"Theater saves kids," Pratt said.