The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials of 1692. The book was also made into a movie and plenty of people have put on plays about, most recently East Anchorage High School. Play director Jill Neimeyer casted a terrific group of students to play the roles, including Nadia Nelson and Jonathan Reed.

East High senior Nelson played Rebecca Nurse who was one of the women accused of witchcraft. Nelson started out as part the tech crew in her freshman year but as she got older and more comfortable she started auditioning and actually playing roles in a variety of different plays. With The Crucible it took her only a few weeks to learn her lines and she says it was not hard. Nelson plans on becoming an actress but is willing to set other goals knowing how hard it is to make it acting.

Seventeen-year-old Reed, also known as John Proctor, has been acting for three years but was very nervous when he first auditioned with about 50 other students. “‘It’s hard getting up in front of people and talking, it’s tough, it’s scary,” says Reed. It took him until the day before opening night to remember all of his roles.

Neimeyer has been East High School’s play director for ten years but has been directing for about 30 years. She also put on Beauty and the Beast, Once Upon A Mattress, and Into the Woods, Alice in Wonderland, and a lot of one-man shows, and terrifying tales. “This has been an incredible experience,” says Neimeyer. “It’s a fantastic group of very talented, dedicated, and very kind student who really collaborate and work well together.”

Although the opening night went a lot smoother, the second night went very well being that one of the actors was a fill in for an original who was injured a week before the premier of the play.