Comparison of The Crucible and After Liverpool Essay

For this assignment I am going to be comparing two plays both of which I have studied and preformed. The first play, which I studied, was the crucible by Arthur Miller and After Liverpool by James Saunders. Each of the two plays are naturalistic but are set in two very different times. The Crucible is set in Salem Massachusetts in 1642 and After Liverpool is set in the 70’s. The two are quite contrary in how they were set out first of all After Liverpool was made up of 23 small scenes some only having a few lines some having quite a few but most of them were short. The main things used in the setting for each scene are very basic. The scene was made up of a coffee table, a few chairs and a sofa. It os so basic as everyone has these things and this type of thing could happen to anyone of us at any time. This produces the effect that relationships are similar and that in this performance the only thing that maters is the relationship between the actors whereas on the other hand The Crucible is quite different. This is made up of four long acts. This uses lots of sophisticated props for example detailed furniture and crockery. This is all needed to set the time in which the crucible is set. Whereas in After Liverpool the setting is not irrelevant but is not as important. After Liverpool was made up of two characters of not much significance and a series of duologues bar one. After Liverpool is about the lack of communication that can develop over time. The short scenes in this piece are somewhat symbolic to the nature of relationships today. The speed and the fact that long term relationships are not as common. Also most of them are based on sexual attraction, which is now an important thing when looking for a partner. The crucible has many different characters and each of the characters are described and are of quite significance. Compared to After Liverpool where there is no description of the characters. There is no description of characters as it is irrelevant of who you are in this piece as all people are involved or could be involved in a relationship. The crucible is based on a true story and some of the characters were real people. The crucible is an allegory and was written as Arthur Miller wanted to express his views but couldn’t so he uses The Crucible as an allegory to do so. Miller wanted to express his views about the McCarthy communist hunts in America. What he was saying was that if America is so great and believes in freedom why is it that you were killed or exiled for believing in a contrary government to Americas own. Also The Crucibles main theme was mass hysteria and the community being ruled by the church and religion. After Liverpool also uses symbolism in the apples by this is mean is that the apple is representing the forbidden apple from the story of Adam and Eve. Both of theses plays are similar as both are about gaining power in a relationship in the crucible Abigail gains power over John Proctor leading to his death. After Liverpool this is about relationships and communication between couples. It is preformed entirely in chronological order with no flash backs unlike The Crucible tells you about past events. In After Liverpool each scene is wholly about the couples relationship and the communication or lack of the couples lack any past and never refer to the future. The Crucible is very detailed in its explanation of characters, which gives you an idea when performing of how to play each character. In After Liverpool there is no indication and it is entirely down to the person performing the piece. So it is an indication of how the performer sees the scene happening and maybe an indication on how they view relationships. The fact After Liverpool is written like this is also symbolic in that everyone can be in a relationship that is why the characters are labelled M and W. The reason they are labelled M and W is that it can represent anyone, which is rue as anyone can be in a relationship. The scenes did not have to be in any order this is also symbolic that the relationships in the play do not get anywhere they always end up asking the same questions. They had no specific chronological order as everything was happening in the present. Having looked at both plays it has given me an insight of two very effective ways of portraying relationships both of them very different from each other. I preferred performing After Liverpool as I could use my own drama skills to play each character, which I think is a lot better, and I enjoyed it more. Also I found it easier to understand, as it used more modern language, which was easier to learn.