The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, and directed by Michael Tigchelaar and Rebecca Vaa, is playing this week in Fitzwilliam College Auditorium. I got the chance to meet up with the cast and crew at 6 pm, an hour and half before their premier to take some photos.
Anna Clart. The cast were lining up for the start of the play, and while we were waiting for everyone to arrive I snuck a few head shots.Shot from behind the scene to get the actors backlit. I was against the wall, and hunching down low to get this angle. Here Katy Duff and Ronald Prokeš.At the start of the play the actors came walking in one at a time, a quick snapshot as Joanna Clarke walked passed the cross.Katy Duff, Joanna Clarke, Maia Elsner, Viktor Kewenig. This is a composite image of two photos taken in rapid succession. I liked that one of them was looking at the cross and then had this idea.A head shot of Sam Pulman-Slater from the lineup. I am playing a bit with split toning here, making the shadows green.Tituba: Gabrielle McGuinness. We jumped between different scenes to get as many interesting photos as possible within the short time we had.Ellen Mcgrath and Ravi Patel. For this photo I darkened the corners a bit to focus on the two actors, and did some light rays from the top right-hand corner. On the bed Ellen Mcgrath.Ronald Prokeš and Anna Clart. This scene we did twice, so I got it from two different angles.Normally I like my photos sharp, but sometimes motion blur gives a sense of action and movement. As in so many other photos there is green-orange split toning and darkening of the corners. I did the darkening in multiple passes, each time adding a curve adjustment layer with a slight darkening. That way I can get a smoother transition.I missed the throw the first time round, so for the second time I repositioned myself.I like the pose. There is quite a bit of clean-up in this photo to get rid of the lighting equipment in the background.Katy Duff, Anna Smith, Anna Snodgrass, Ellen Mcgrath and Hannah Gillie. Again, the lighting is really nice. Here I did only some minor curves adjustments.Anna Smith, Anna Snodgrass, Ellen Mcgrath and Hannah Gillie. Look at the natural skin tones. The only thing is I should have asked Anna Snoddgrass who was sitting on the bench to move slightly to the right so she would be more visible.This scene is not in the play. I wanted to play with the shadows, so we staged this. There is a bit of photoshop to clean up the left side and simplify the scene. Here Anna Smith.The noose.Behind the scenes. We were trying to get a noose shot, which did not work as I wanted. Instead I snapped this photo. Here Ronald Prokeš and Michael Tigchelaar.Gabrielle McGuinness, Sam Pulman-Slater, Viktor Kewenig, Katy Duff. Here again working with actors in the foreground and background. The set was really sparse, so I had more flexibility in creative angles.Gabrielle McGuiness. The stage was lit by white spots from behind the audience, and two red spots on either side. It was probably a bit more complicated, and it made for interesting light. Here though the red was a bit too dominating, so I made the photo black and white.I like Gabrielle McGuiness’ expression and the positioning of the two actors in the background. Looking at it now I should probably have photoshopped out the cross that you can see to the right which is a bit distracting.Ravi Patel, Gabrielle McGuiness, Katy Duff, Viktor Kewenig, Tom Baxter, Sam Pulman-Slater, Maia Elsner. There were some crazy scenes in the play…Ravi Patel, Gabrielle McGuiness, Ellen Mcgrath, Katy Duff, Viktor Kewenig, Tom Baxter, Sam Pulman-Slater, Maia Elsner Not really sure what was going on here.The premier drew closer and it was time for the actors to warm up. Reverend Parris: Ravi Patel, Betty: Ellen Mcgrath, Tituba: Gabrielle McGuinness, Abigail Williams: Katy Duff, Susanna Walcott: Hannah Gillie, Ann Putnam: Maia Elsner, Ruth Putnam: Anna Snodgrass, Thomas Putner: Viktor Kewenig, Mercy Lewis: Anna Smith, Mary Warren: Anna Clart, John Proctor: Ronald Prokeš, Rebecca Nurse: Inge-Vera Lipsius, Giles Corey: Tom Baxter, Reverend John Hale: Sam Pulman-Slater, Elizabeth Proctor: Joanna Clarke, Francise Nurse: Dan Spencer, Judge Hathorne: Seth, Judge Danforth: Joseph Prentice, Sarah Good: Kate Jones, Ezekiel Cheever, Herrick, and Hopkins: Jonny Shamir.Earlier we had taken out a table to try and see if we could take a photo through the noose, to have it like a framing, but the noose was too high up. As I was preparing to pack up, this presented itself.Shortly before the play was about to start, one of the directors, Rebecca Vaa, handed out little envelopes to each of the members of the cast. It created a warm atmosphere.
This was a small glimpse of The Crucible. I wish I could have photographed the dress rehearsal, but they moved it to 10 am which was too early for me. It is playing this week at Fitzwilliam College Auditorium. Do not miss it!
Update: The Tab has a review of The Crucible, and also the Varsity.
– Johannes
Cast
Parris – Ravi Patel
Betty – Ellen McGrath
Tituba – Gabrielle McGuinness
Abigail – Katy Duff
Susanna Walcott – Hannah Gillie
Ann Putnam – Maia Elsner
Ruth Putnam – Anna Snodgrass
Mercy Lewis – Anna Smith
Mary Warren – Anna Clart
Proctor – Ronald Prokes
Rebecca Nurse – Inge-Vera Lipsius
Giles Corey – Tom Baxter
Hale – Sam Pulman-Slater
Elizabeth – Joanna Clarke
Francis Nurse – Dan Spencer
Judge Hathorne – Seth
Judge Danforth – Joseph Prentice
Thomas Putnam – Viktor Kewenig
Cheever – Jonathan Shamir
Production Team
Co-Director – Michael Tigchelaar, Rebecca Vaa
Set Designer – Angelica van Clarke
Costume Designer/Makeup Designer – Charlie Clark
Sound Technician – Rory Barber
Sound Technician/Music Technician – Michael Davin
Music Technician – Matt Weinberger
Assistant Director – Ceylon Hickman
Producer – Tess Davidson
Co- Stage Manager – Margot Speed
Lighting Designer/ Technician – Johnny King
Photographer – Johannes Hjorth
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