The Crucible. Directed by Jessica Anne Nelson, running until March 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Frederic Wood Theatre. For more information visit theatrefilm.ubc.ca/events/event/the-crucible.
A North Vancouver resident and arts and theatre student is saying goodbye to her final days at the University of British Columbia with a modern production of Arthur Miller’s classic period drama The Crucible.
Local 22-year-old Sabrina Vellani performs in her final undergrad show that’s playing from March 15 to 31 at the Frederic Wood Theatre on 6354 Crescent Rd., from Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Asked what she's going to miss the most about her time at UBC, Vellani says the theatre department's supportive community is what made her time there memorable.
“The supportive community at UBC theatre has been really beneficial for me, I’m really internally grateful for that,” said Vellani, who’s graduating in May. “Kind of bittersweet, I'm looking forward to doing new things but I'm also definitely going to miss UBC theatre.”
Directing the play as part of her final thesis is UBC master of fine arts student Jessica Anne Nelson.
The play is based on Arthur Miller’s famed drama set in Salem, Mass., during the infamous Salem witch trials of the 1600s that revolved around town members accusing each other of various forms of witchcraft.
The play originally caused a stir when it premiered in 1953 because of its allegorical undertones that compared the witch trials of the late 1600s to the infamous McCarthyism period following the Second World War where people were accusing each other of being communists in the U.S.
"We wanted to find a way to still honour that time period but make it a little more modern inspired,” Nelson told the North Shore News.
“We tried to modernize some of the costume designs and we came up with a set design that we felt wasn't solely about representing that 1692 time period, but was also symbolic of the dramatic structure and action that the play takes the audience through.”
This is also Nelson’s last UBC production and she is expected to graduate this spring.
She said working with the undergrad class was wonderful because the students were still in the midst of learning their craft and were open to feedback.
“There's some really incredibly talented actors in that program, so I feel really lucky to work with them,” Nelson said.
Vellani, who’s a studying acting, is portraying the characters of Ann Putnam, Martha Corey, in addition to a guard named Hopkins. Playing a different character in every act, Vellani found it interesting switching from a character like Putnam who accuses people of witchcraft, to the character of Corey who’s tragically accused of being a witch.
"It's cool because I kind of get to play both sides of the table,” Vellani said.
On top of the personality changes she undergoes, there is also a major vocal shift she channels when switching between characters.
"What's been really great is we have a movement coach and a voice coach who have been working with us on this show, so we've been able to establish different physicality for each character and different vocal changes that need to take place,” Vellani said.
Along with the movement and voice coach, Nelson worked closely with Vellani in order to properly capture the qualities for each of her characters.
Although Vellani voices all three characters, her character Corey is played off stage.
“What she brought to me in the first couple rehearsals I loved, so it really was quite easy for me in that way, I just encouraged her to keep going further with those things,” Nelson said.
Since Nelson was compelled to stick to the script, in order to make the play more relevant for the audience she wants them to relate to the storyline with a different perspective. She said she hopes they come to the show without the assumption that John Proctor, the main character, is “the good hero,” while the female lead Abigail Williams is the “evil antagonist.”
“It's not that I changed anything but I feel like I was bringing a very important point of view and lens that I was looking at the play through," she explained.
Vellani, who initially studied drama at the University of Waterloo, made the switch to UBC in her second year when she decided to specialize in theatre arts.
She’s currently putting all of her energy into The Crucible but said she hopes to discover where she wants to take her acting career later on through auditioning in film, TV and other theatre projects.
