San Diego City College Dramatic Arts Program to Present JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN

The San Diego City College Dramatic Arts Program will present seven performances of the play John Proctor Is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower. Running in the Saville Theatre, tickets are available for Fridays and Saturdays, October 4, 5, 11, and 13 at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, October 10 at 11:00 a.m., and Saturday, October 5 and 12 at 2:00 p.m.

John Proctor Is the Villain is directed by drama professor and Co-Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department Dr. Katie Rodda.

Things are unsettled at Helen County High in small-town Georgia-rumors are swirling around a student's dad, another student blew up her life and left for Atlanta, and Mr. Smith's junior English class has to make it through sex ed before they can finally start The Crucible. But what one man calls a witch hunt, a young woman calls the truth. When the teens start questioning what really happened in Salem, everything threatens to change. A new play from a major new voice, John Proctor is the Villain captures a generation in mid-transformation, running on Taylor Swift, optimism, and fury, and writing their own coming of age story.

Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. Her play Lost Girl is published by Samuel French/Concord Theatricals and won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Her other plays include Gondal, Teen Girl FANtasies, and The Sky Game, which have been commissioned, produced, and developed by Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Farm Theatre, We the Women Collective, Peppercorn Theatre, Less Than Rent Theatre, Front Porch Arts Collective, Cohen New Works Festival, as well as many colleges and universities across the country. Kimberly has also worked as a writer and narrative lead for Meow Wolf, Santa Fe's celebrated immersive arts company. Kimberly was a founding member of the New York women's writing group, The Beehive Collective, and is the founder of a creative arts program for preteen girls in Austin. She proudly holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Rodda first read John Proctor Is the Villain on the recommendation of one of her colleagues. She states that there were two things that drew her in: "I really loved the characters. They are so richly drawn, and their individual voices and personalities immediately crystalized for me. The other thing that stood out was the dialogue. I spend a lot of time talking with and listening to young people, and Belflower really captures their speech patterns. Her writing is deliberately unstructured, which allows the characters' conversations to flow in a way that is very much in keeping with how high school students talk." As part of her research, Rodda went back to the original source: Arthur Miller's The Crucible. "Revisiting the play through the lens of Belflower's play was an eye-opening experience," she says. "I was able to pinpoint what had always bothered me about this play and about the relationships between John Proctor and the two women in his life: his wife Elizabeth and his mistress Abigail Warren. I love that Belflower creates parallels between Miller's play and what the onstage characters are experiencing. I really love this show," she enthuses, "and I think audiences will like it as well."

Rodda began rehearsals in late August. Two of the actors appeared in her 2023 production of Salvation Road, and three appeared in 2024's The Prom. Some actors have had a great deal of experience onstage, and one actor is performing in her very first play. The cast includes Kiandra Akinremi (Miss Gallagher), Eddie Alcazar (understudy/swing), Noah Baca (Lee), Presley Cooper (Shelby), Clara Feng (Raelynn), Lauren Harry (Ivy), Paige Lee (Beth), Teri Monte (Nell), Ally Rincon (understudy/swing), Jerry Rodriguez (Mr. Smith), and Bryce Yazzie (Mason).

The stage manager is City College graduate Maya Canales. Scenic design is by Duane Gardella, and costume design is by Pam Stompoly. Lighting and sound design are by City College Theatre Technician Mike McCullock.

Tickets: $5 - 18: www.citycollegetheatre.com

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