Logan Smith, Grade 11, played John Proctor, the protagonist (the leading character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel, etc.). Understanding this character inside out was essential. Logan presented to the audience a perfect John Proctor, born and raised in 17th century Salem. Did Logan identify with John Proctor, the protagonist? Not entirely.

The character of John was so caught up in the concept of “honour”, that he didn’t know what was the “right thing” to do. In real life, Logan empathised with the character and really “felt” his frustration towards the values he wanted to protect and characters who challenged them.

Logan’s preparation for the role was a lengthy one - a period of 6 months. He focused on the first half of the play and understanding his character and his emotions before the October break, and completed memorising his lines from October until Christmas. When asked whether it was difficult to memorise all his lines in the Crucible, Logan surprisingly said that Shakespearean plays were easier to memorise and stick to as they require “archaic” English, very different from our everyday spoken language. When simple English is used, there is always room for interpretation of meaning, and to use similar words instead of following the script word for word.

In the Crucible, Logan was not only the “protagonist”, but also the assistant director who coached other actors’, and managed how things worked in the production’s background. Through this experience, he got a good feel of what was needed in terms of spotlights and what happened behind the scenes, laying a great foundation for his future pursuits in acting.

1 of 5