Just What Mr Proctor Ordered

The Greystones Community College Players team…

ancing very much to their own drum whilst the town’s other two secondary school went the all-singing, all-prancing route with High School Musical and the upcoming Shrek: The Musical, the Greystones Community College Players took on Arthur Miller’s 1953 play exposing the weaponisation of fear and the erosion of due process.

Which can be difficult to make a song and dance about.

And if The Crucible is set during the real-life Salem witch trials of 1692, it was used as a warning from history back in the 1950s as the contemporary McCarthy trials set out to blacklist any artist who in any way, shape or form ever said hello to a communist.

When it comes to those all-important school productions, director Seán Ó Súilleabháin is clearly not a glitz agus glamour man, having had students previously take on such classics as 12 Angry Men and Of Mice And Men, often to a rapturous reception. And his production of The Crucible this week at The Whale proved no exception.

There was a standing ovation for the young actors as they brought down the house on their final performance on Thursday. A rare occurrence at The Whale.

“Over the three nights,” says Ó Súilleabháin, “the audiences were invariably left speechless by the end, and that’s really down to the wonderful acting, and the behind the scenes people who helped bring the play to life. It was a pure joy to witness, a real experience, and something that none of those who attended – or took part – are likely to forget…”

You can check out just how the Greystones Community College Players production of The Crucible came together here, and find out what’s coming up at The Whale over here.