A tale of paranoia, jealousy and hysteria is coming to Sacramento State in October. As its first show of the season, the Theatre Department has chosen to run a production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” The play is part of the Theatre Department’s 50th anniversary celebration.

For those unfamiliar with the story, “The Crucible” is based on the Salem witch trials of 1692. The basis of this particular story was that young girls began to accuse various adults throughout their town of being witches. There were multiple deaths as a result of these hysterics.

“The Crucible” debuted on Broadway in 1953 and there are many parallels between the story of the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism, which was going on at the time. That would have been the main significance of the play when it ran on Sac State’s stage just three years later,” Gina Kaufmann, the play’s director, said.

However, there are several characteristics that set the current production of “The Crucible” apart from most interpretations of the classic play. One characteristic being that the cast will be racially mixed, Kaufmann said.

“It was obviously not that way when the actual events of the Salem witch trials took place, but my hope is that people will look past the races of the actors and simply get into the fascinating stories of these characters,” Kaufmann said.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to put a white person in a role that called for an African-American actor and vice versa, but that’s not the case in this show,” Paul Greisen, 74, a community member who plays Giles Corey, said. “I can’t think of a single line of dialogue in that play that says anything at all that would require anyone to be of any particular race.”

As a result of the nonexistent racial barriers, many roles were open to the auditioning actors and talent was the main reason for callbacks.

The play will also have a much more realistic look to it, Michelle Kivett, a senior at Sac State who is acting as the play’s dramaturge (pronounced dramater), or historical researcher, said.

“You usually see the characters in nice clothes and pointy hats, but you won’t see that in this production.” Kivett said. “We’re bringing in a lot of historical aspects of the time period that you don’t really see in other productions. You’re really going to see the dirt and horror of it.”

“The Crucible” is also a unique production of the Theatre Department in that its cast is not made up entirely of theatre students, Kaufmann said.

“We’ve never had so many people from different majors audition,” Kaufmann said. “We even have some students in the cast who are majoring in mechanical engineering. I don’t know how the word got out. I had never even met some of these students before, but they auditioned and did a great job.”

The participation of alumni is another uncommon feature of this show. The main reason behind this is the desire of former students to celebrate the anniversary of their department. However, it also works well for the varied ages in the play, Kaufmann said.

“I don’t like to cast young people in much older roles,” Kaufmann said, mentioning that giving her younger actors a chance to play roles that fit their age groups will give them more appropriate experience for breaking into the professional world of acting.

While “The Crucible” is mainly a way to honor the beginning of the campus theatre program, the story also sends an important message to its audience, Kaufmann said.

“It’s still so relevant. You always study it in school and it’s so compelling. It’s been done in so many times and so many different countries and people always find parallels in their own societies.”

“The Crucible” will kick off on Friday and will run through Oct. 29. There will be a chance to participate in a “talk-back” with the director and cast after the matinee show on Sunday, Oct. 22. For more information, visit the Department of Theatre and Dance’s website at http://www.csus.edu/dram/.

Bridget Jones can be reached at [email protected]