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THIS WEEK THEATRE | SUNDAY • 13 MAY 2018 maltatoday 4 The Crucible is an iconic and challenging play, so all eyes will be on you when it comes to this production. How do you hope to deliver an ade- quate and relevant iteration of Miller's play to Maltese audi- ences? That is a question that puts even more pressure, doesn't it? Teatru Manoel have presented this as their most anticipated production of the season. I think there are several reasons for this. The Crucible is a monumental piece of theatre and it has never been performed at the Manoel Theatre. The Manoel Theatre itself is producing it and there is a great team behind it. Now as for the how to deal with it, I would say by putting together a talented team of collaborators. This is my favourite approach – having brilliantly gifted people who have proven their worth that come together for collabo- rative theatre-making. I am honoured to work with people like Austin Camilleri, Sef Farrugia, Yasmin Kuymi- zakis, Moritz Zavan, Nicole Bugeja and so forth. And I haven't even started mention- ing the cast, have I? We have put together an impressive mix of local and international talent which I am very proud of. I am actually humbled to have thea- tre stalwarts or accomplished youngsters for every part and bit part. This was imperative in a play like this. I insisted with the producers that I would only accept direct- ing it now, if we had the right cast to join the witch hunt. The Crucible is one of, if not my favourite play. I fell in love with it when I first studied it. I, and the rest of the team, hope to deliver a memorable and fitting produc- tion of it, not only an adequate one. But that's up to those watching to judge. We often speak about the "en- during relevance" of classic plays, and The Crucible's rel- evance is all but baked in – the context of witchcraft and per- secution was a clear allegory for McCarthyism when the play was first staged. So it's a play which can be all-too- easily made relevant for any number of social ills. Which aspects of it resonated most strongly with you as a direc- tor, and why? I really do believe in the en- during relevance. If you go out there today and look for the words blame, proof, murder, plot, corruption, fraud, accus- ers, lies, factions, parties in the press, you would not keep count, would you? Well, these are all words straight out of Miller's piece and all of them are used more than once. Be it religious extremism, mass hys- teria, political agendas, power plays or human guilt, fragility, bigotry, rapacity and radicalism – The Crucible is as relevant as the person watching wants it to be. It is a personal experience. It speaks of the human condition in society, sometimes a disgust- ing one, at times a beautiful one. I wanted to bring about this timelessness, the moments of "this could happen anywhere" and "this is happening every- where", "I've seen this", "I've done this", "that could be me". What do you make of the Ma- noel Theatre's drive to stage classic works such as this one, and how do you hope The Crucible will play its part in that overarching initiative? I think the Maltese islands need to further embrace the classical canon to be truly Euro- pean and also to build their own. There are no two ways about it, we currently don't produce enough classics. Be it in their original English or translated to Maltese, these pieces are crucial to understand the richness of our literary and artistic heritage. We can see much further if we stand on the shoulder of giants (Newton said it better). I love new work and original pieces, as my own theatrical ca- reer attests. But I believe these can be put in a context, and get better by comparing to constant productions of theatrical mas- terpieces, even unconventional adaptations. I think this is nec- essary for an educated, stronger society. Sometimes we need to look back to move into a bet- ter future. I believe the lack of classical theatrical productions actually creates a more insular theatrical ecosystem, one that engages less with audiences. I only hope that this production can do something to help this cause. Apart from its sociopoliti- cal resonances – and getting into the details of its staging – The Crucible is an ambitious 'That could be me' Director Sean Buhagiar speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about facing one of the biggest challenges of his career so far – directing a large-scale production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Manoel Theatre – that classic of modern drama which uses the Salem witch hunts to explore enduring social ills Sean Buhagiar: "We currently don't produce enough classics" The Crucible gathers an ensemble cast of Maltese and international talent for this Manoel Theatre production of Arthur Miller's classic drama