Playing Danforth

   I didn't read Arthur Miller's The Crucible in high school, don't ask me why, you'd have to take that up with my teachers and it's been so long ago now that I don't even remember their names. But when I heard that GSCT was staging it this season I grabbed a copy and read it, and loved it. After my initial reading I wanted to play John Proctor, I wanted to say, "I hear the boot of Lucifer, and I see his face and it is my face and your face..." and all those other angry, angst ridden lines that Proctor gets to say. But after playing Judd Fry in Oklahoma! I thought, I don't want to play another angry, emotionally charged character that dies in the end right now; I rethought the play and begin to think I'd rather play one of the priests (Hale and Parris) they each go through a change in the show that really appealed to me as an actor.
   When it came down to actually auditioning I didn't write down a character that I wanted to play, I just put any and so of course I didn't get one of the ones I had wanted because I didn't tell anyone about it. I was originally cast as Francis Nurse  an older farmer whose wife gets convicted of being a witch; Nurse is a fairly small role in the scheme of the show and I'll admit my pride was somewhat stung by the initial casting, but I did put any and it being GSCT I don't mind accepting a smaller role (I wouldn't want to drive to another city for a small role but here in town I don't mind). Portraying Nurse did have it's challenges, for the most part I tried to keep my back bent and my gait slow, trying to draw in and be as feeble as my large frame will allow, also Nurse doesn't come on until his wife is already arrested so he is full of agitation, strife and eventually sorrowful resignation. But when I got the call to step up and play Danforth, I was happy to have a more challenging role on my hands.
   The man originally cast to play Danforth dropped out after the read through, I never heard the actual reason for this though I assume it had something to do with the seven-days-a-week rehearsal schedule (which is highly unusual for community theater in these parts). There was some cast shuffling and another man was placed in the role, this fellow had the presence to play the role, he fit it but it proved to be too big a part for him; he just never could get the lines memorized and because of this, perhaps, he had trouble developing the role. So the director made what I'm sure was a very hard choice of asking him to step down and it was at this point that I was tasked with taking over as Danforth. I felt bad for the other guy, but the character of Danforth really drives much of the second half of the show and without a strong Danforth it just wouldn't work.
   Most times I can find a line or a phrase that really sums up a character to me and it becomes sort of the hallmark of how I view them. For Danforth it's when he looks to Reverend Hale and says, "Mister Hale, surely you do not doubt my justice?" It's phrased as a question, but it is most assuredly a threat; the subtext is, question me and you'll find yourself in jail or worse. Also the fact that he say's MY justice instead of the courts justice, in Danforth's mind he is the court, he is the law, he is Denzel in Training Day, "King Kong ain't got s@$& on me!" The reason we hate Danforth is because he believes himself infallible and when this notion is challenged by almost incontrovertible facts he fights against reason to go on believing himself that way. He actively searches for a way to avert justice so that he can continue to believe that he is just, because if he is not then not only are the people of Salem possibly innocent but so are the 72 others he has sentenced to hang and the, "... near 400 in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn...". His career, his reputation, his very conscious relies on these people being guilty and that's why he tries so hard to get them to confess.
   I really liked the way Fred (our director) blocked Danforth, he comes striding in, takes center stage and gives it up only reluctantly. He is large and in charge and every one knows it, one note that Fred gave me on a couple of occasions was that I didn't have to yell over others to have power, because Danforth already has the power. Fred told me to come in under them, when they get louder and higher I come in underneath, except when MY justice is questioned, then I can shout them down. This was most evident in my last scene with Proctor, he's ranting and raving and blubbering about his name and I stay composed until I realize I'm not going to get my way, then I get to get mad and pitch a little hissy fit and say, "Hang them high above the town..."
   Playing Nurse would have been fine too, I would have given it my best, but all in all I'm glad I got the chance to play Danforth.