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	News Reports - Home 2007 Index
	Newstalk ZB July 6 2007; 16:16 Plenty of heat in The Crucible The theatre piece written in response to the McCarthy Hearings is showing in Auckland and its director believes it has plenty of modern parallels. Arthur Miller's famous 1952 play The Crucible is based on the Salem witch trials, used as an analogy for the "Red Scare" of Miller's day. A group of girls experimenting with devil-worship try to save themselves by blaming their neighbours, sparking a witch hunt and tragedy. It has central themes of hysteria and fear. Auckland Theatre Company artistic director Colin McColl is directing the piece. He says he "splashed out" on The Crucible as it has a large cast and great parts, and is fitting to mark ATC's 15th year as a big birthday treat. McColl says people can read all sorts of things into the themes in the play, from the Peter Ellis case to what might be happening in the US. He says surprisingly there are lines in the play that sound very much like George W, as in "you are either with us or you are against us". McColl says The Crucible reads as a dark warning about the dangers of irrational belief. The cast of 23 has a mix of experienced actors including George Henare and Elizabeth McRae, and fresh talent such as 20-year-old Ellen Simpson who plays central character Abigail Williams, the girl who initiates the "crying witch". McColl says she is coping very well, even getting through a stomach bug where she had to keep running offstage to vomit. "But you know, it is all par for the course for actors, they just have to cope with that and go on." The Foreign Minister's daughter is among the newcomers in the play. Bree Peters, daughter of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, makes her professional stage debut in the masterpiece witch hunt drama. McColl says the 24-year-old has a bright future. He says she is a very talented young actress, who is also very stroppy, and he is enjoying working with her. McColl is unsure whether Peters picked up any acting skill from her dad, but says she is certainly a personality. The Crucible plays at the Maidment Theatre till July 28.