Cleveland Play House's Riveting New Production of Arthur Miller's THE CRUCIBLE Begins Tonight

Fear, deceit, and paranoia run rampant in Cleveland Play House's (CPH) gripping new production of Arthur Miller's THE CRUCIBLE.

In 1953, Miller's captivating play about the fictionalization of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, earned the playwright his third Tony Award. One year later, the show was produced at CPH and has not been performed there since...until now. More than 60 years later, THE CRUCIBLE is still as socially relevant as ever, making it an invaluable addition to CPH's 100th Season. The icing on the literal cake is that one of the performances will take place on October 17th, which would have been Miller's 100th birthday. Directed by CPH Artistic Director Laura Kepley, this production also boasts the largest and most diverse cast since CPH moved to its current location in Playhouse Square five years ago.

Kepley states: "I am elated to have a large community of actors onstage that are reflective of our Northeast Ohio population in THE CRUCIBLE. This epic work will be an intense and thought-provoking experience for Audience members, and will allow them to draw their own conclusions and discover the contemporary parallels of the story for themselves. We are eager to share this urgent and fresh new production of one of Miller's greatest works with our audiences."

Using the same artistic license Miller used when he fictionalized and dramatized the events in Salem for his play, CPH's production of THE CRUCIBLE will honor the conventions of the time period, but the characters will be more familiar to the contemporary eye. To intensify the audience's experience, the show will be performed in the round in the intimate Outcalt Theatre at Playhouse Square.

CPH's generous sponsors include Centennial Season Sponsor KeyBank, Centennial Outreach Sponsor Dominion, and the John P. Murphy Foundation.

About the Play: The year is 1692 and the village of Salem, Massachusetts is run wild with tales of witchcraft. Deep-seated jealousies, lust and greed are bubbling to the surface from the heat of each neighbor's exaggerated accusations. Revenge has replaced reason; mere rumors are now damning evidence - and no one is safe. In 1952, Miller wrote THE CRUCIBLE during the height of McCarthyism, when thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers without proper regard for evidence. Many of the accused were blacklisted and others imprisoned. In the years that followed, Miller himself would be questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee about un-American activities. In 1957, he was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended. The parallels Miller draws between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism shed light on how a community can be torn apart even today, through hearsay, greed and jealousy.

THE CRUCIBLE Cast

(For complete cast bios, visit www.clevelandplayhouse.com/shows/2015/the-crucible.)

NICK BARBATO (Hopkins/ensemble)

Donald Carrier (Reverend Parris/ensemble)

JEREMIAH CLAPP (Guard/ensemble)

LAUREN COLE (Young Girl/ensemble)

KAYLEIGH HAHN (Young Girl/ensemble)

John Herrera (Deputy Governor Danforth/ensemble)

LAURYN HOBBS (SusAnna Walcott/ensemble)

ALEC HYNES (Judge Hathorne/ensemble)

Mahira Kakkar (Mary Warren/ensemble)

MEGAN KING (Mercy Lewis/ensemble)

MIA KNIGHT (SusAnna Walcott/ensemble)

RACHEL LESLIE (Elizabeth Proctor/ensemble)

JAY Ben MarksON (Ezekiel Cheever/ensemble)

RICKIE McDOWELL (Marshal Herrick/ensemble)

Ben Mehl (Reverend John Hale/ensemble)

KATHRYN METZGER (Sarah Good/ensemble)

YUMI NDHLOVU (Betty Parris/ensemble)

Elise Pakiela (Betty Parris/ensemble)

Tracee Patterson (Ann Putnam/ensemble)

Fabio Polanco (Thomas Putnam/ensemble)

Esau Pritchett (John Proctor/ensemble)

Chuck Richie (Francis Nurse/ensemble)

Socorro Santiago (Tituba/ensemble)

Ray Shell (Giles Corey/ensemble)

Dorothy Silver (Rebecca Nurse/ensemble)

Katie O. Solomon (Abigail Williams/ensemble)

THE CRUCIBLE Creative Team

Arthur Miller (Playwright/1915-2005) was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include The Man Who Had All The Luck (1944), All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), THE CRUCIBLE (1953), A View From The Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After The Fall (1964), Incident At Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), The Archbishop's Ceiling (1977), The American Clock (1980) and Playing For Time. Later plays include The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994), Mr. Peters' Connections (1998), Resurrection Blues (2002), and Finishing the Picture (2004). Other works include Focus, a novel (1945), The Misfits, a screenplay (1960), and the texts for In Russia (1969), In the Country (1977), and Chinese Encounters (1979), three books in collaboration with his wife, photographer Inge Morath. Memoirs include Salesman in Beijing (1984) and Timebends, an autobiography (1988). Short fiction includes the collection I Don't Need You Anymore (1967), the novella Homely Girl, a Life (1995) and Presence: Stories (2007). He was awarded the Avery Hopwood Award for Playwriting at University of Michigan in 1936. He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Algur Meadows Award. He was named Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2001. He was awarded the 2002 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters and the 2003 Jerusalem Prize. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and was awarded the Prix Moliere of the French theatre, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.

LAURA KEPLEY (Director) is in her third season as Artistic Director and has directed Cleveland Play House mainstage productions of Fairfield (world premiere), The Little Foxes, Venus in Fur, Good People (also at Syracuse Stage), A Carol for Cleveland (world premiere), In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, My Name is Asher Lev and CPH readings of Roe Green Award-winning plays Soups, Stews and Casseroles: 1976, Marjorie Prime and Daphne's Dive. She joined CPH in 2010 as Associate Artistic Director, having arrived from Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island where she was Resident Director and Artistic Associate for four seasons and Interim Director of the Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. in Directing Program for one. She has also directed for The ALLIANCE THEATRE, Asolo Repertory Theatre, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Contemporary American Theatre Festival, among others. A native Ohioan, Laura received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Fine Arts from Brown University/Trinity Rep. She is a Drama League Fellow and a recipient of the 2009-2011 National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Directors.

Scott Bradley (Scenic Designer) is making his debut at Cleveland Play House. On Broadway, premieres of Seven Guitars (Tony Nomination and Drama Desk Award for best set design); Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Drama Desk Award for best Set Design). Recent openings: A View From The Bridge (Seattle Repertory Theatre); Pride and Prejudice (Centerstage); Brownsville Song (Long Wharf Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) and Chapatti (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park). Currently designing Alan Ayckbourn's new play Things We Do For Love (Resident Ensemble Players at Univ. of Delaware). Notable productions: world premiere of A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre); Eurydice and The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, both Lucille Lortel nominations (Second Stage). TV: Set designer for Late Night with David Letterman. Film: Production designer for Pushing Hands. Graduate of The Yale School of Drama 1986.

Lex Liang (Costume Designer) Lex's work includes design/production for theatre, film, dance, and special events. He is thrilled to be back at CPH, having recently designed The Little Foxes for Laura Kepley. His work has been seen regionally at the ALLIANCE THEATRE, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Penobscot Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse. Select NYC/Off-Broadway credits include Secrets of a Soccer Mom, The Yellow Wood, The Shape of Metal, and Made in Heaven. Lex is the Principal at LDC Design Associates, a NYC-based company specializing in the design and production of creative events and interiors. Recent projects include the launch of The Kardashian Kollection at Liebovitz Studio, the launch of Outdoor Life in Times Square, The Jean Scene in Central Park, and the 2015 Tony Awards Gala. Lex is the recipient of the Broadway World, Suzi Bass, and Santi Flaherty Awards, and is a Princess Grace Award nominee. For Kitty. LDCdesign.com

The Design Team for THE CRUCIBLE also includes: Mary Louise Geiger (Lighting Designer), Jane Shaw (Sound Designer), Thom Jones (Dialect Coach), Ron Wilson (Fight Choreographer), WIGS AND WHISKERS (Wig Design), SARAH WANSLEY (Drama League Fellow). The Stage Manager for this production is Bruno Ingram and the Assistant Stage Manager is KRISTIN PFEIFER.

THE CRUCIBLE Special Events - All FREE

CPH Script Club: THE CRUCIBLE-Beachwood Public Library
September 30, 2015 @ 7:00pm - 8:15pm Everything you love about a book club - but with a play in the spotlight! Check out a copy of the script from one of our partner libraries and read it at home. Then join CPH Education Staff at the library for a free-flowing exploration of the story and characters, with special insight on how CPH artists take a play from page to stage!
RSVP to CCPL - Beachwood Library required at (216) 831-6868.

Tech Nights
October 7, 2015 @ 6:30pm - 8:30pm Hear from the director and designers, then sit in on a technical rehearsal ("tech") to see how set, lights, sound, costumes and actors all come together as opening night nears.

CPH Script Club: THE CRUCIBLE-Medina Public Library
October 7, 2015 @ 7:00pm - 8:15pm Everything you love about a book club - but with a play in the spotlight! Check out a copy of the script from one of our partner libraries and read it at home. Then join CPH Education Staff at the library for a free-flowing exploration of the story and characters, with special insight on how CPH artists take a play from page to stage! RSVP to Medina Library required at (330) 725-0588.

CPH Script Club: THE CRUCIBLE-Rocky River Public Library
October 8, 2015 @ 7:00pm - 8:15pm Everything you love about a book club - but with a play in the spotlight! Check out a copy of the script from one of our partner libraries and read it at home. Then join CPH Education Staff at the library for a free-flowing exploration of the story and characters, with special insight on how CPH artists take a play from page to stage! RSVP to Rocky River Public Library required at (440) 895-3766.

Behind-the-Scenes: A Light In the Darkness October 11, 2015 @ 4:00 p.m. Lighting designer M.L Geiger introduces us to the fascinating craft of lighting for the stage. Through a combination of discussion and demonstration, M.L. illustrates how lighting design tells the story. We'll see how she fuses the tools of her trade (gobos, fresnels) with her artistic sensibility to evoke the foreboding landscape of Arthur Miller's Salem in THE CRUCIBLE.

CPH Script Club: THE CRUCIBLE-Cleveland Heights Public Library
October 12, 2015 @ 7:00pm - 8:15pm Everything you love about a book club - but with a play in the spotlight! Check out a copy of the script from one of our partner libraries and read it at home. Then join CPH Education Staff at the library for a free-flowing exploration of the story and characters, with special insight on how CPH artists take a play from page to stage! RSVP to Cleveland Heights Library required at (216) 932-3600.

CPH Script Club: THE CRUCIBLE-at Cleveland Play House
October 18, 2015 @ 1:30pm - 2:15pm Everything you love about a book club - but with a play in the spotlight! Join CPH Education Staff in the Tomsich Lobby of the Allen Theatre for a free-flowing exploration of the story and characters, with special insight on how CPH artists take a play from page to stage! This script club will be held in the Tomsich Lobby of the Allen Theatre -NOT in a partner library. RSVP at Clevelandplayhouse.com by Oct. 8 to receive a script.

Pre-Show Conversations begin 45 minutes prior to the start of each performance.

THE CRUCIBLE will take place in the Outcalt Theatre from tonight, October 10, through November 8. Tickets range in price from $20-$90 each. To order single tickets please call 216-241-6000 or visit clevelandplayhouse.com. Groups of 10+ save up to 40% off single ticket prices; call 216-400-7027.

Cleveland Play House, recipient of the 2015 Regional Theatre Tony Award and founded in 1915, is America's first professional regional theatre. Throughout its rich history, CPH has remained dedicated to its mission to inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. CPH has produced more than 100 world and/or American premieres, and over its long history more than 12 million people have attended over 1,600 productions. Today, Cleveland Play House celebrates its centennial while performing in three state-of-the art venues at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. We also thank the residents of Cuyahoga County for supporting Cleveland Play House through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

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