Carnegie Mellon School of Drama’s production of “John Proctor is the Villain” was performed from November 14–23 in the Rauh Studio Theater. So much went into this production outside of acting, directing, and tech, so it was interesting to talk to dramaturg, Jesús Feliciano, about everything that he contributed to the show.
Feliciano worked alongside assistant dramaturg and second year, Moira Doolittle. The dramaturg’s role in any show is to provide research, history, and interpretation about a theatrical piece that help the cast and production staff portray the show to the best of their abilities. For Feliciano, this show included researching the small town in Georgia where the story takes place, as well as dates and times of 2018 when high school students would read “The Crucible.” Feliciano joined the production two weeks after the initial creative meeting when director Professor Bria Walker-Rhoze asked the school of drama for a dramaturg for the production.
In order to learn more about Helen County High School (where the show takes place), Feliciano reached out to several people who grew up in that town to get some more information. “Some of them said no to being interviewed, but some said yes and I was able to get to know what their school system was like.” Through these interviews Feliciano was able to determine what dates would be written on the blackboard in the classroom, which showed that all the events of the play took place over one month in the school year.
“The script is really long and detailed in saying, ‘Oh this happens on a Wednesday, this scene is a week later, then two days later. It feels like so much, but it’s just happening over the course of a month,” Feliciano said. “So how does portraying that on set work? How can the audience see that and understand that it’s just one month that all of this is happening to these girls?”
This research also included finding out what it was like living in this town at the peak of the Me Too movement. “We shifted to providing actors with materials about their characters, information regarding the mentality of sexual assault victims and predators, as well as overall ideas about themselves and what their characters do in this small town,” Feliciano said. They also provided information like this to the director and technical designers to help them put on the most accurate show possible.
“So that was our first step; research. And then we collaborated with our amazing director Professor Bria. She was a great professor and mentor throughout the whole process.” If you didn’t get the chance to see this show, the amount of detail involved is insane, and there are a lot of difficult topics that are addressed throughout the two hour production. When the school asked what dramaturgs would be interested in joining this production, Feliciano jumped on it. “I think it’s a fantastic script. I think it tackles strong themes and messages that are still applicable to this day.”
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