After an incredible season full of performances of the theatrical production, “The Crucible,” during the fall of 2022, it only seemed natural to think that this thought-provoking play was over. The cast would finally take their much-needed break over Christmas and get right back to preparing for the next play at Eastern Mennonite University. On the contrary, the ending to this theatrical performance’s journey can be thought of, in the language of the theatre, as a “bravo moment.” Soon after the recent semester began, “The Crucible” cast was chosen to perform at West Chester University as part of the Region 2 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF).
The selection team includes theatre professionals from across the country who meet to discuss which shows have exhibited professionalism, creativity, risk-taking, and created opportunities for student education. This accomplishment energized many, including EMU theatre department director, Justin Poole. He stated, “It is a great honor to be selected. It shows that others [academics and professionals] are recognizing the great work that our small program is doing.” This same sense of excitement and gratitude is also shown by members of the cast. Hannah Landis, assistant director who also plays the role of Reverend Hale, reflected on the experience. “It was a huge honor to be one of the five shows to perform at KCACTF (Region 2). As a theatre department, we put so much thought, heart, and time into our work, and being recognized alongside universities with much bigger theatre programs was gratifying and energizing.”
The cast did not simply bask in the glory of this grand achievement after not having practiced the show for months. Instead, they got right to work, meeting ten days before the festival to begin comprehensive rehearsals of the performance in order to master every scene once more. According to Landis, these rehearsals were detailed and long but equipped the cast to, in her opinion, have the best performance yet. The show members were also invited to attend various workshops, events, and view other performances. Landis remarked that the team attended many of these other events, bonded as a group, and explored West Chester, PA. In recent years, there has only been one other cast that has been selected to attend this festival. This was in 2018 with EMU’s production of “39 Steps,” which won two national awards. As the cast closes this chapter of “The Crucible” and prepares for its next big performance, we can all keep an eye out for the possibility of a national award in the future, which will be announced in the coming months. Landis speaks for the entire cast when she reflects with joy on the show’s success. “I had been told that KCACTF would give us the best audience we had ever performed for–our audience was made up of people who already had a deep love for the arts and recognized the theatre techniques and conventions we were implementing that folks unfamiliar with theatre may not have noticed. We received a standing ovation before we had even returned to the stage for bows and were stopped for compliments in the halls for days afterwards! Feeling seen in such a way was an incredibly satisfying and heartwarming experience.”
