Module 4: Drama in American Literature

The Crucible Playbill

The time has come to take everything you have learned about drama, drama productions, and The Crucible and incorporate it all into one single, culminating assignment. If you have ever been to a live theatrical performance, you know that there is one thing they all have in common: a playbill. A playbill is a program for a play. Playbills provide theater-goers with a listing of the characters and actors playing them, a brief overview of the play, act/scene summaries, and a brief playwright bio. Some even provide patrons with a commentary on the play. After all, plays are not meant to be secrets or surprises. Most audiences already know the plot of the play before attending it. The excitement comes from watching the actors bring the story to life.

You are going to create your own playbill for a performance of The Crucible. You are free to exercise your creativity on this assessment. Naturally, there are items that must be included, but how to incorporate everything and the way you do it is wide-open for experimentation. Your actors can be a figment of your imagination, real celebrities and actors, or your friends and family. The choice is completely yours. However, the author of The Crucible is, of course, Arthur Miller, so you will need to look up information for his brief bio. As a special inclusion in your playbill, you will also provide an explanation to the audience of Miller's motivation for writing this play. You will need to conduct a little research here as you will want to discuss the connection to McCarthyism and the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s.

Your playbill must include the following required elements:

1. Cover
   • Title of play
   • An image that is representative of the play (an object, a person, a symbol)
2. Character List
• A listing of characters in the play and names of the actors playing them
3. Overview
• A brief overview or summary of the play written directly to the audience (3-5 sentences)
4. Historical Context
• A brief history lesson of the Salem Witch Trials (5-6 sentences)
• Citations of outside resources
5. Act Summaries
• A brief summary of each act or an overview of the dramatic structure using the appropriate scenes from the play
6. Actor Bios
   • A brief biography for actors playing major characters (2-4 sentences per actor is sufficient)
   • Citations of outside resources if applicable
7. Author Bio
   1. A brief biography of the author (6-8 sentences)
   2. Citations of outside resources
8. Analysis
   • An analysis of the play as it relates to the author's motivation and cultural relevance (2-4 paragraphs)
   • Citations of outside resources

Remember, a playbill is a program or booklet, so play with the booklet or pamphlet templates in your word processing software. Also, as this is a school assignment, all work must be original. You may not borrow or copy and paste summaries and reviews from other sources. Be sure to cite outside sources, however, for images and actor/author bios. Since you will need to use resources outside of this course to complete this assignment, please submit a Works Cited document with your assignment submission. If you need assistance, visit the Developmental Module for information on citing resources. Before you begin, review the Playbill Checklist to make sure that you include all of the items required for full credit.

Reflection

Much emphasis has been placed on the parallel between the mass hysteria that overtook the Salem settlement in 1692 and the fear of communism in the United States following World War II. However, can other parallels be made with this play? If human nature does not change and history repeats itself, then would it hold that this same type of mass hysteria has struck in other places and at other times? After you have completed the assignment, think about the following questions and write your responses to them. Submit your responses to the dropbox when you have completed your reflection.

• Are there other lessons and truths to learn from this play? What are they?
  
• Would you compare the themes of this play to the fear of Muslims following the 9/11 attacks?
  
• Do you see any other instances of mass hysteria in today's society?

Once you have completed your playbill and reflection, please submit them with the Works Cited document to the dropbox.

 

 

Once you have completed the module, please complete the module test.