“Abigail Williams starts the whole hysteria of crying witch on people,” said Kate Bunce, on her love-to-hate character in HITW’s upcoming The Crucible. “She had an affair with upstanding citizen (and married man) John Proctor while working in his house.” Being a teenage girl, Abigail doesn’t respond well when John 1.) doesn’t return her affections and 2.) appears to not be honest with himself.
Abigail sets many of the events in motion and is the ring leader in this circus of hysteria and paranoia. However, Kate sees something more human and universal in her deeply-troubled alter ego. “She feels unsatisfied with the hand she has been dealt,” said Kate. “She is a young, unmarried girl who doesn’t have a job or any prospects in her life. She also sees people lying about who they are and what they want. They hide behind their devout Christian tendencies…..Abigail is not satisfied by her available options. She finds passionate ways to go after what she believes in a better life.”
Although Kate considers Abigail an antagonist, she doesn’t look at her as a villain. “She is the reason that horrible things are happening to people, but her reasoning behind it isn’t false…..She is convinced that they are living in a society that is constricted at a ridiculous amount. She wants out of it.”
Kate, a theater major from Central CT State University, has been performing since she was very young. In addition to acting, she has worked as a director, producer, props master, makeup artist and costumer, the latter being one of her deepest passions. “I like theater because it is a collaborative, creative art,” she said. “I love working and bonding with other artists.”
At HITW, Kate appeared on stage in The Tempest. She also did costume design for Spring Awakening, A Cup of Joe at the Iffy Fish and The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons.
Come see Kate when The Crucible opens on Friday, May 15th. Performances run Fridays and Saturdays from May 15- June 6, 2015 with one Sunday matinee on May 24th at HITW on 116 Main Street in New Britain, CT. Tickets are $20.00 (general admission) and $15.00 (students and seniors). They can be purchased at the door and online at www.hitw.org. The May 22nd show will be our Pay-What-You-Can performance. The Crucible is being presented in honor of Arthur Miller’s 100th Birthday.