Press Release

Forty-Sixth Season Ends Well With Formidable Festival Finale

March 28, 2007

Great Lakes Theater Festival presents The Crucible and All’s Well That Ends Well in rotating repertory and bids a fond farewell to the Ohio Theatre as its permanent home.

CLEVELAND, OH – Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) will conclude its 46th season with a Spring Repertory that features Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama, The Crucible (Crucible), and William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well (Well). The productions will be performed in rotating repertory at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square , March 28 – April 27, 2008. The Spring Repertory features a single company of actors performing two alternating plays on the same stage over five weeks. Drew Barr will direct The Crucible and, GLTF’s Producing Artistic Director, Charles Fee will direct All’s Well That Ends Well . The pair of productions will mark the Festival’s final regular season offerings in its twenty-five year home at the Ohio Theatre before the company moves to its new permanent home at the Hanna Theatre , Playhouse Square in the fall of 2008.

The sponsor of Great Lakes Theater Festival’s 2008 Spring Repertory is National City. Production support for The Crucible was provided by The Kulas Foundation, The Reinberger Foundation and the Great Lakes Theater Festival Business Alliance. GLTF's 2007-08 season is presented with additional generous support from The Cleveland Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the Ohio Arts Council and SCK. Media sponsors for the season are Cleveland Free Times, Cleveland Magazine, The Plain Dealer, WCLV 104.9 FM, WCPN 90.3 FM ideastream and WKSU 89.7 FM.

"The Crucible and All’s Well That Ends Well are two extraordinary classics that are very rarely produced… in part because of their epic scale," said Charles Fee, GLTF’s Producing Artistic Director. "It takes a seasoned artistic company  to successfully meet the challenges that these plays present… and we are up to the challenge. It's a massive but enormously satisfying endeavor for our artists… and I think it will be a rich and immensely rewarding experience for our audience. We simply can’t wait to bring these amazing plays to life as only Great Lakes Theater Festival can in Cleveland."

The 2008 Spring Repertory opens with Great Lakes Theater Festival’s first production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama, The Crucible . Perched on the edge of the New World in 1692, Salem, Massachusetts, is home to a religious village steadfast in their sense of sanctity. The devil is suddenly loosed in this quiet enclave when a gang of teenage girls are caught dancing and conjuring love charms in the woods under the guise of night. Wicked accusations and whispers of adultery ignite a firestorm of mass hysteria, personal spite and a relentless witch hunt that shakes the very foundation of the community. A timeless tale of truth on trial, Arthur Miller’s renowned drama is a riveting American classic.

William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well completes the Festival’s Spring Repertory pairing. What’s a girl to do when the man she wants to marry is unwilling to tie the knot… even when the King commands it? The wise and witty Helena finds herself in precisely that predicament when the haughty courtier Bertram refuses to marry any woman below his station. His resolute vow not to accept her as his wife until she fulfills two seemingly impossible conditions is put to the ultimate test in a clash of wills that is sure to delight. After all, anything is possible in this rarely produced romantic treat that’s packed with a plethora of comic surprises and passionate poetry.

GLTF’s 2008 Spring Repertory directing corps is comprised of a pair of Festival favorites. Drew Barr will return for the second time this season, his sixth consecutive year with GLTF, to stage The Crucible after celebrated GLTF productions of Arsenic and Old Lace (2007) , Love’s Labour’s Lost (2006), You Can’t Take It With You (2005), The Taming of the Shrew (2004) and Tartuffe (2003). Barr has directed in all six years of Fee’s tenure. Charles Fee, GLTF’s Producing Artistic Director, will complete the Festival’s Spring Repertory directing duo when he helms William Shakespeare’s, All’s Well That Ends Well . Fee's acclaimed productions of Hay Fever (2007) , The Importance of Being Earnest (2005) , The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (2004) , Hamlet (2003) , Arms and the Man (2002) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2002) which was nominated for a Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement) have led to an artistic and financial renaissance for Great Lakes Theater Festival.

Opening Night performances of The Crucible (March 29 th ) and All’s Well That Ends Well (April 12 th ) have been scheduled for Saturday evenings with preview performances of both productions scheduled for the preceding Friday nights. Curtain times for all evening performances will remain at 7:30 p.m., with a 1:30 p.m. curtain time for Saturday matinees and a 3:00 p.m. curtain time for Sunday matinees. Both productions in GLTF’s Spring Repertory will continue to offer sign-interpreted and audio-described performances as well as the popular Director’s Night and Playnotes pre-show discussion series. (Consult enclosed performance calendars for complete date and time information.)

Single tickets for Great Lakes Theater Festival productions range in price from

$22-$56 (Student tickets $13 – any performance / any seat) and are available by calling

(216) 241-6000, by ordering online at www.greatlakestheater.org or by visiting the Playhouse Square Ticket Office. Groups of ten or more receive discounts and should call (216) 664-6050 x1 to make reservations.

Since 1962, Great Lakes Theater Festival has brought the pleasure, power and relevance of classic theater to the widest possible audience in Northern Ohio . The first resident company of Playhouse Square , GLTF's celebrates its 25^th season at the Ohio Theatre this year.

At A Glance: The Crucible

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association

At A Glance: All's Well That Ends Well

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association

Reviews: The Crucible

Cleveland Scene
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
A witch hunt devours lives in Great Lakes Theater Festival’s superb staging of The Crucible
Christine Howey, Scene Magazine Theater Critic

In human beings, there is a pestilent and deliciously stimulating tendency: the thrill of banding together and declaring other people evil or outcast. And no play has explored this phenomenon as well as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, now being given a riveting staging by the Great Lakes Theater Festival.

The play, an extended allegory for the post-World War II “Red Scare,” had a very personal genesis. Miller himself had been subjected to grilling by the vile House Un-American Activities Committee and cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to name fellow writers who had attended a communist meeting years before.

The Crucible turns that political witch hunt into a literal one, as a number of girls in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, band together and start declaring that there are witches in their midst. Of course, at that time there were plenty of tragedies to go around, such as babies dying in infancy. “Witches” became handy scapegoats, especially since there was no evidence required for a conviction, but only an accusation. Any protestation of innocence was considered further proof of guilt, and the penalty was death.

This admirable production throws all the emphasis on the actors and Miller’s words, since the set design by Narelle Sissons is almost painfully plain. Constructed from unpainted plywood sheets, a large room that fills the stage subtly morphs from a house to a courtroom to a cell, with only the barest suggestion of furniture. Naked fluorescent tubes are the only anachronism, stabbing the eyes as if daring you to keep watching.

But watch you must, as the talented Great Lakes company, under the direction of Drew Barr, brings Miller’s words to life with compelling power. Andrew May, raging and helpless as John Proctor, and a quiet Laura Perrotta, as his wife, make the confusion and desperation of this quite ordinary couple visceral and vivid.

While some of the declarations of the townspeople get a nervous laugh (“I saw her flying over the barn!”), there are few chuckles when Aled Davies, as the righteous Deputy Governor Danforth, bears down on the Proctors. Draped in sanctimony and absolute certainty, this is a judge from your worst nightmare.

At over three hours with intermission, The Crucible is no lighthearted romp. But the second-act trial puts any TV courtroom drama to shame. Innocent people writhe on the spiny point of mass hysteria as a mindless spasm of fear swiftly devastates their lives.

And before you feel superior, recognize that this particular human frailty is no historical artifact – it is alive and functioning in our world today. Visually raw but polished in performance, this is a production that will leave slivers in your soul.

The Plain Dealer
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Strong cast heats up Great Lakes Crucible
Tony Brown, Plain Dealer Theater Critic

A crucible is a high-temperature-resistant container used to melt metals or heat chemicals.

But the word is rich with connotations. It derives from the Latin for lamp, though it sounds like the root for cross. Appropriately, it also describes a trial, as by fire.

All of which was not lost on Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, about a man severely tested in a hot caldron, condemned in a rigged trial conducted by men brandishing Bibles.

He dies, but in dying he also forges forever his good name, John Proctor.

The Crucible is also a severe test of a theater company, a three-hour mountain, and of an actor who must stride ever forward but also must not stray into sanctimony and pathos.

Despite some early false steps, Great Lakes Theater Festival survives this ordeal and masters it.

And actor Andrew May, often consigned over his long Cleveland career to campy comic roles, proves he’s made of better stuff.

Miller based his play on events in 1692 Salem Town , Mass., the Salem Witch Trials. But it’s his commentary on the communist-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee (and its counterpart in the Senate) in 1950s Washington.

Brilliantly, it’s really about mankind’s tendency to self-righteousness, presciently including the blindly crusading, for-us-or-against-us, liberty-be-damned response of the U.S. government to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Miller was a great architect and engineer of drama but no poet. It shows in The Crucible and in Miller’s clunky attempt to capture the idiom of the Puritan New England colonies.

The weaknesses are most problematic in the slogging exposition of the first act, where the entire town seems to fumble up into an attic where a young girl feigns possession by Satan.

The Great Lakes production, directed with great humanity by Drew Barr, exacerbates the problems by pushing the scene into a corner of the stage, forcing the actors to slow it down even more or trip all over themselves.

But this production’s ensuing three acts – the arrest of Proctor’s wife, a court hearing and execution day – move inexorably toward a shattering destination.

The cornering of the first act is not the only problem with Narrelle Sissons’ set – an impressive structure of bare plywood panels lighted by fluorescent tubes to portray the past and present.

There’s also the Proctors’ kitchen, which could have come from Self-Help Aisle 17 at Ikea.

And Kim Krumm Sorenson’s costumes, which in profile look about right, also look too machine-made and too dry-cleaned.

But the 19-member cast more than makes up for these blips.

Aled Davies exudes Godlike moral authority as judge-jury-executioner Danforth, balanced by Jeffrey C. Hawkins’ all-too-fallible Rev. John Hale.

Dudley Swetland has tarnation aplenty as contentious coot Giles Corey. Alicia Kahn defines fragility as poppet-maker Mary Warren. Sara M. Bruner has foxy moxie as accuser Abby Williams. And while Laura Perrotta’s choice to make Elizabeth mousy might be debatable, her tenacity in sticking with it is not.

Then there’s May’s Proctor, an unselfconsciously handsome sinner whose moral compass is guided not by ideology but by elements of the earth he tills. May, who sometimes relies on his actorly bag of tricks, here creates a completely original and real man with a completely real broken heart.

This crucible does not contain unalloyed gold. But Great Lakes has struck precious mettle.

Cleveland Jewish News
Thrusday, April 3, 2008
Great Lakes production of Crucible hits home
Fran Heller, Contributing Writer

Never underestimate the power of a stage set.

The starkness of Narelle Sissons’s massive wooden frame, bleached of all color, makes the looming backdrop of The Crucible even more terrifying. Lit by Rick Martin’s single shaft of light, the silhouette suggests, at intervals, a church, a domicile, a courthouse, and an interrogation room. In the opening scene, the actors enter from a trapdoor below the stage, as if emerging from the bowels of Hell.

The setting summons a disquieting mood in Arthur Miller’s powerful tragedy of jealousy, avarice and revenge. It’s produced by Great Lakes Theater Festival through April 26.

While Miller sets his 1953 play during the Salem witch-hunt trials of 1692, he wrote it as an allegory of the Sen. McCarthy communist “witch-hunt” hysteria that seized the nation in the 1950s.

The impact of director Drew Barr’s taut production invites comparison with the present. Consider the Patriot Act, illegal wiretapping, invasion-of-privacy issues on the Internet, the unlawful detention of detainees and the sanctioning of water boarding and other forms of torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.

The Crucible begins at the home of Reverend Parris, praying at the bed of his daughter Betty. Betty and her cousin have been discovered dancing in the woods, a sinful act, and it isn’t long before rumors of witchcraft begin to seize hold of the narrow-minded, superstitious townspeople.

Lying lifeless in her bed, Betty suddenly breaks out in a series of convulsions, as if smitten by the devil, a notable piece of acting by Emma Wahl.

Paula Duesing is the voice of reason as Rebecca Nurse, who knows the ways of adolescent behavior and feels that Betty’s illness will right itself when ready. But no one will listen to Goody Nurse, who is herself accused of witchcraft and condemned to hang.

Underscoring the cry of sorcery are the selfish motives of the townsfolk.

David Anthony Smith is outstanding as the unctuous Reverend Parris, an unlikable and mercenary sort who seizes on the notion of witchcraft to save his job.

Jeffrey C. Hawkins is the conflicted Reverend John Hale, summoned to discern the cause of Betty’s illness. Convinced at first that witchcraft is alive and well in Salem, he forces a confession from the slave woman Tituba, a well-drawn performance by Sheffia Randall Dooley. But as Hale bears witness to the frenzied paranoia of the accusers, he comes to realize the error of his thinking.

Chief villain of the play is Abigail Williams, a promiscuous young woman who flouts the rules of society. The excellent Sara M. Bruner is a volatile mix of sensuality and willful cunning as Abigail.

The emotional heart of the drama is the relationship between John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth. Having committed adultery with Abigail some months prior to the events of the play, John, now chastened and remorseful, remains estranged from his unforgiving wife. A contrite Andrew May conveys the guilt, anger and frustration of a husband whose adulterous affair has permanently set his wife against him. Laura Perrotta maintains a distant aloofness and unnatural calm as the stoical Elizabeth. These two consummate actors beautifully navigate the uneasy truce between repentant husband and rigid wife.

The highly charged reunion and final parting between Elizabeth and John, their heads and bodies leaning into each other, as Elizabeth confesses her own sins as a cold wife, remains seared in memory.

Aled Davies is brilliant as the implacably self-righteous Deputy Governor Danforth. The courtroom confrontation between an unrelenting Danforth and a raging Proctor is explosive.

Dudley Swetland mixes humor with contempt as crusty landowner Giles Corey, who opposes the charges of witchcraft and then is accused himself.

Alicia Kahn perfectly captures Mary Warren’s weak nature. Mary tries to tell the truth but loses courage when Abigail intimidates her. Marc Moritz does a nice turn as the obsequious Ezekiel Cheever, much taken with his power as one of the court’s henchman. Fitz Patton’s original music, a cacophony of atonal shrill notes, suggests that something is rotten in the town of Salem. The contrast between Kim Krumm Sorenson’s 17th-century Puritan costumes and the Spartan contemporary setting symbolically links history with the present. This first-rate production hits home.

Cool Cleveland / The Times Newspapers
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
CRUCIBLE disturbs, illuminates and impresses at Great Lakes Theater Festival
Roy Berko, Theater Critic

A number of years ago, the faculty of the college at which I was teaching, decided to do a sit-in due to what we perceived to be an improper “witch hunt” aimed at the faculty leadership. I decided to spend my class time reading aloud from THE CRUCIBLE, a play now being produced by the Great Lakes Theatre Festival. I did so because I thought it was a perfect lesson for young minds to hear the brilliant words of Arthur Miller regarding misguided attempts to manipulate and control people.

Miller, one of America’s greatest modern playwrights, used the theatrical concept of historification as his writing device for THE CRUCIBLE. The technique is to write a play based on true or near true actions of a different era to represent a present day set of circumstances.

Miller’s script was penned in 1953 as a protest against Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunt for Communists in the government and entertainment industry during the early 1950s. The country was in hysteria for fear of Russia and its emergence as a major power. McCarthy fed on that hysteria, much like the religious fanatics of Massachusetts colony set upon so-called witches because of the hard times facing the people of the late 17th century. Miller was questioned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Un-American Activities and held strong feelings against the witch hunting being done and how it had ruined many lives.

The play is relevant today as the Bush administration, using the hysteria of 9-11, has conducted witch hunts and taken away citizen civil rights. Much of this was based on a parallel to the play’s line, “You are either with us or against us.” You are a “good American” as defined by this administration, or you are a traitor.

The play also reflects attitudes of the present day religious right, who, much like the Salem religious fanatics, hunt out those not agreeing with their interpretation of what is “right and wrong.” They attack homosexuals, those who believe in abortion, and those who champion stem cell research, for “poisoning” the “good” folk.

The story concerns an accusation against Goode Proctor by a teenaged girl who, after having a sexual affair with Proctor’s husband, John, accuses Goode Proctor and others of being witches. The chief magistrate, much like Joseph McCarthy, closes his eyes to facts and is swayed by his own agenda. In the process, the question of one’s reputation comes center stage. Proctor cries out, after refusing to sign a document in which he would falsely agree that he has seen the devil, “Because it is my name. Because I cannot have another in my life.”

Great Lakes Theatre Festival director Drew Barr not only understands the underbelly of the play, but has the ability to develop the script’s emotional and logical meaning.

From Narelle Sissons’ stark and disturbing bare plank-wood set, to Rick Martin’s overly bright lighting, to Fitz Patton’s sometimes unnerving music, the entire production screams, “extreme!” I was uncomfortable from the start of the play. In this case, uncomfortable is positive. It made me aware of each of the emotionally tearing lines and each underscore of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.

Andrew May is excellent as John Procter. His last set of speeches, the emotional fulcrum of the play, were stirring. He was, in fact, a man caught between his need to be a good father and husband, and live a life of purpose and self-respect. We saw his self-respect soar, as his resolve came forth.

Aled Davies, as the Deputy Governor, was scary in his reflection of what could well-be some of the present day Supreme Court judges, closed to all but narrow views of what it means to be just.

Jeffrey Hawkins transitioned well as the strongly opinionated John Hale, the reverend who eventually sees the light and realizes the harm caused by being stiff-necked.

As was needed, I hated Abigail Williams, the master manipulator, as portrayed be Sara Bruner. David Anthony Smith was also appropriately obnoxious as the self-centered Reverend Parris.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: It is a shame and a blessing that a play like THE CRUCIBLE   has to exist. However, as witch-hunts continue, the theatre must have a voice like Miller’s to protest the taking away of rights. And, if such messages must be given a life, then they should be presented as effectively as the GLSF production.

Reviews: All’s Well That Ends Well

Cleveland Jewish News
Thursday, April 17, 2008
All’s well and good in GLTF production of ‘problem play’
FRAN HELLER Contributing Writer

Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) just keeps getting better.

Its current production of “All’s Well That Ends Well” bears fruitful testimony. It’s at the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square through April 25 .

Considered one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” (i.e., neither completely comic nor totally tragic), the improbable mix of fairy tale, folk tale and pungent satire has made it one of the least liked and seldom produced plays and a challenge to pull off.

That GLTF delivers, and with such rip-roaring success, is owing to a stellar repertory company, director Charles Fee’s fresh interpretation, and a transcendent production that sets an early 17th-century dark comedy squarely in the 21st century.

“All’s Well” centers around Helena, the orphaned daughter of a doctor, who on his deathbed bequeathed to her all the cures for diseases, including the one suffered by the king of France. Helena cures the king, which wins her handsome courtier Bertram for a husband, but in name only. The rest of the play deals with Helena’s single-minded plot to win Bertram as her husband in every sense of the word by whatever method necessary. The catchy title suggests that her desired end will rightly justify the means.

Among the play’s more troubling aspects is Helena’s character (she stoops to conquer by deceit and questionable motives); Bertram’s disagreeable nature, which makes his rapid conversion and repentance at the play’s end unbelievable; and the “bed trick” which Helena uses to recapture her reluctant husband.

The highborn Bertram is dishonest, callous and thoroughly dislikeable; it is always hard to understand what Helena sees in him. The difference in their stations makes Helena seem like a social climber or a gold digger in her determined quest to become Bertram’s wife. On the other hand, one cannot help but feel somewhat sorry for Bertram, whose resistance to a marriage not of his own choosing is entirely believable.

Realism and fantasy form a congenial alliance in GLTF’s tasty production. The play begins with a funeral, the death of Bertram’s father. Fantasy quickly intrudes in the form of a Bertram as a heroic figure, whom Helena has conjured in her imagination, and the grand entrance of Parolles, a scoundrel and Bertram’s follower, who emerges from below the stage as a ridiculous knight in shining armor.

Gage Williams’s churchlike façade fronted by scaffolding is not only witty (European cathedrals are forever under repair!), but serves the production extremely well with its multiple focal points of dramatic interest.

David Anthony Smith is fantastic as the garrulous and pompous Parolles, whose early exchange with Helena about the dubious virtues of virginity sets the comic tone for the rest of the play. Like Falstaff to Prince Hal, Parolles is a bad influence on the naïve Bertram, who is easily gulled by his unsavory companion.

Comely Sara M. Bruner enchants as the plucky and clever Helena. Taking matters into her own hands (“our remedies in ourselves do lie”), Helena sets her sights on the coveted prize; Bruner acts with her entire being, filling the stage with her sprightly presence.

Handsome Markus Potter is suitably rebellious as the arrogant and reluctant suitor Bertram, who thinks of Helena as little more than a servant.

In previous GLTF productions of comedies, director Fee sometimes tips too broadly in the direction of farce. Happily, in this instance, the director exercises restraint, making the humorous parts even funnier and the darker aspects more convincing.

The friction between youth and age makes its point. An immature Bertram ignores the advice of his mother and incurs the wrath of the King, both of whom think he is a fool for not recognizing Helena’s virtues.

Laura Perrotta is a class act as the Countess of Rossillion, Bertram’s mother, a wise and gracious woman equally devoted to her son and Helena, her ward.

Aled Davies is outstanding as the sagacious and kindly King of France. In a play whose ponderous verses yield little in the way of poetry, some of the most lyrical lines are reserved for the king, and Davies’s clear articulation is always music to the ears.

Dudley Swetland is terrific as Lafew, an old lord who takes delight in puncturing Parolles’s puffed-up nature. Jeffrey C. Hawkins tickles as the clown, Lavatch, who serves the Countess with bawdy wit.

Joining Helena in her scheme is the courageous Diana (Laura Welsh) and Diana’s protective mother, the Widow Capilet (Paula Duesing). Marc Moritz fills the bill as the Countess’s steward Rynaldo, while company regulars Lynn Robert Berg and Dougfred Miller more than please as First and Second Lords Dumaine.

Nicole Frachiseur’s costumes are a heady mix of traditional and modern. Peter John Still’s kicky musical interludes consistently charm.

Director Fee makes full use of the theater, including the aisles and surround sound. As the trumpets herald the soldiers’ return, Rick Martin’s lighting bathes the stage in bright red and purple. The nonstop action keeps the viewer glued.

This remarkable production boasts enough variety to satisfy young and old alike.

Photos: The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a timeless tale of truth on trial. Great Lakes Theater Festival production of this classic American drama features actors (from left to right) David Anthony Smith (as Reverend Parris), Aled Davies (as Deputy Governor Danforth), Jeffrey C. Hawkins (as Reverend John Hale) and Dougfred Miller (as Judge Hathorne). The Crucible runs in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Wicked accusations and whispers of adultery ignite a firestorm of mass hysteria, personal spite and a relentless witch hunt that shakes the very foundation of a steadfast community in Great Lakes Theater Festival’s production of the timeless Arthur Miller drama The Crucible. Pictured above are actors (from left to right) Jeffrey C. Hawkins (as Reverend John Hale), Dudley Swetland (as Giles Corey), Andrew May (as John Proctor) and M.A. Taylor (as Francis Nurse). The Crucible runs in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Great Lakes Theater Festival’s Spring Repertory heats up with Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible. Pictured above are actors Andrew May (as John Proctor) and Laura Perrotta (as Elizabeth Proctor). The Crucible runs in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Resident acting company members Andrew May (as John Proctor, left) and Sara M. Bruner (as Abigail Williams, right) take center stage in Great Lakes Theater Festival’s production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible to conclude the classic theater company’s 46th season. The Crucible runs in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Great Lakes Theater Festival’s Spring Repertory heats up with Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible. Pictured above are actors Andrew May (as John Proctor) and Laura Perrotta (as Elizabeth Proctor). The Crucible runs in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
The devil is suddenly loosed in Salem, Massachusetts when a gang of teenage girls are caught dancing and conjuring love charms in the woods under the guise of night in Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible. Pictured above are actors (from left to right) Grace Connelly (as Susanna Walcott), Laura Welsh (as Mercy Lewis), Emma Wahl (as Betty Parris), Sara M. Bruner (as Abigail Williams) and Markus Potter (as Marshal Herrick). The Crucible runs in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)

Photos: All’s Well That Ends Well

Bertram, the Count of Rossillion (actor, Markus Potter), is consoled by his mother, the Countess of Rossillion (actor, Laura Perrotta), in Great Lakes Theater Festival’s production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company’s 46th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Festival favorite Sara M. Bruner stars as the wise and witty heroine, Helena, in the Great Lakes Theater Festival production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company's 46th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)		Festival favorite Sara M. Bruner stars as the wise and witty heroine, Helena, in the Great Lakes Theater Festival production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company's 46th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Resident acting company members David Anthony Smith (as Parolles, left) and Sara M. Bruner (as Helena, right) take center stage in Great Lakes Theater Festival production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company's 46th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Anything is possible in William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure All’s Well That Ends Well. Great Lakes Theater Festival’s resident acting company shines in the company’s final regular season offering in its longtime home at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with GLTF’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Veteran Festival actor Aled Davies holds court as the ailing King of France in the Great Lakes Theater Festival production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company's 46th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Resident acting company members Sara M. Bruner (as Helena, left) and Laura Perrotta (as the Countess of Rossillion, right) share a private moment in Great Lakes Theater Festival production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company's 46th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
Veteran Festival actor Dudley Swetland (as Lafew, left) advises the ailing King of France, actor Aled Davies (right), to take his medicine in the Great Lakes Theater Festival production of William Shakespeare’s romantic adventure, All’s Well That Ends Well, to conclude the classic theater company's 46 th season. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with the Festival’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s timeless American drama The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)
What’s a girl to do when the man she wants to marry is unwilling to tie the knot… even when the King commands it? The wise and witty Helena finds herself in precisely that predicament when the haughty courtier Bertram refuses to marry any woman below his station. Actors Sara M. Bruner (as Helena, left) and Markus Potter (as Bertram, right) take center stage in Great Lakes Theater Festival’s production of William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well. All’s Well That Ends Well runs in rotating repertory with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square through April 27. (Photography by Roger Mastroianni)