Plausible Deniability

Comments (0) By Paul Friswold Wednesday, Oct 13 2010

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Imagine if an extremely vocal minority in your community began accusing people of something so supremely odd that the accusations could neither be proven nor disproven by conventional means. The accusation, as crazy as it is, becomes conviction because there's nothing the accused can do other than deny it — and of course the guilty party would deny it, wouldn't they? In the town of Salem, a young girl spurned by her married ex-lover begins outing as a witch everybody who opposes her — and people being people, the accusations lead to destroyed lives. The plot of Arthur Miller's The Crucible may concern the infamous Salem witch hunt, but it's really about the damaging power of those who shout loudest being taken seriously simply because of sheer volume and outrage. The University of Missouri-St. Louis Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies presents Glenn Bec — sorry — The Crucible at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (October 14 through 23) with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, October 17, at the Touhill Performing Art Center (1 University Drive at Natural Bridge Road; 314-516-4949 or www.touhill.org). Tickets are $5 to $10.
Thursdays-Saturdays; Sun., Oct. 17. Starts: Oct. 14. Continues through Oct. 23, 2010