The Crucible Play Guide for AQA GCSE Drama

SECTION B STUDY OF A SET PLAY: THE CRUCIBLE 43 Task B13 1 Read pages 105–107 of the play, from ‘Abigail: Mary, please don’t hurt me’ to ‘Proctor: Mary!’ and make notes on any moments in the scene which could be supported by a particular lighting design. 2 Consider how you could use lighting to achieve the following: A The time of day and sources of light in the meeting house B The isolation of Mary Warren from the other girls C The intense atmosphere in the room. 3 Now read this beginning of a sample response about using lighting to establish context in this scene. Complete the response with your own ideas about how lighting could support the action of the scene and show the play’s context. KEY TERM Gobo: A metal cut-out used to project patterns, such as leaves, stars, swirls or waves. Colour palette: The range of colours used. For example, a scene might use light colours, dark colours, muted tones, grey tones, earth tones or vivid, primary colours. Profile: A lantern that produces a clearly defined area of light. Profiles can be focused and used with gobos. Fresnel: A lantern with a lens that produces a soft-edged beam of light. Task B12 Read these lighting design ideas and identify for each one: • Where in The Crucible the lighting idea might be effective • How it demonstrates the context of the play. I would place low lights projecting an orange- red light hidden behind the large pot on stage. This would give a focus of warmth to the room. The lights coming in from the two small upstage windows would be cool and blue and gradually darken as the scene continues. When Cheever and Herrick enter they will both be carrying lanterns. The door behind them will reveal the darkness outside, with just a single fresnel lantern from the lighting rig in the fly space emitting a pearly glow, as if moonlight. This will contrast with the room, which is lit with candles and the warm orange glow from the fireplace. I would have a yellow light filtered through a gobo to create a leaf-patterned light coming through the upstage left window. The colour palette would be yellows and greens. This would suggest the nearness of the woods to the home. In addition, there would be a practical onstage candle on the bedside table. The candle would be lit and partially burnt down at the beginning of the scene. Gobos would be placed in front of two profile lanterns which would form patterns on the floor which look like the bars of a jail cell casting shadows through the windows. There will be two old-fashioned lantern props on the stage, emitting a low light from their candles. These lanterns could be hung by hook on stage or carried by the characters. When the door is opened for Proctor’s exit, he will be backlit by a bright red light and the shadow of a hangman’s noose will be visible. I want to show that this room was an ordinary location for Sunday worship, but it has been transformed into an intense and formal place with a highly charged atmosphere because of the girls’ actions.