"The Trial of George Jacobs, Austust 5th, 1692" by T. H. Matteson
Come early June, there will indeed be witches in Beijing. 315 years after their quite lethal, but relatively short-lived, appearance in a storied Puritan village in Massachusetts, a beguiling group of comely 'teenage' vixens will again gulp the elixir of immortality, this time in the Capital of China. They will serve yet again as a reminder of the evil that is a theocracy--large or small--in the throes of mass hysteria. Here, inflamed and fueled by the very human trait of a woman scorned; elsewhere, by very human theocrats and ideologues of every stripe.
What brings these witches to Beijing? The new tradition of English language theatre at Beijing Foreign Studies University is taking its next milestone step: producing a full-length English language drama performed by Chinese student-actors for a primarily Chinese audience, "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller.
I chose to direct Arthur Miller's powerful use of history-as-mirror to reflect the ugly realities of any today anywhere under the wrong conditions for several reasons other than my great admiration for the show and its author. Number one being that it has a large female cast; Beiwai has many more female students than it does male students, by far. Plus, a large cast gives more opportunities for student-actors to act, in roles large and small, and that is what educational theatre is all about: University folks giving students an opportunity to do theatre instead of read or hear about it. Some will fall in love with it, but all will benefit from the lessons the stage teaches all whom work on or around it.
