Burning Desires

Comments (0) By Lily Janiak Wednesday, Nov 14 2012

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Danzhaus

1275 Connecticut
San Francisco, CA 94107

Category: Performing Arts Venues

Region: Potrero Hill

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Michael Xavier knows you’ve heard the story of the Salem Witch Trials before, and that you might even remember Abigail Williams, the young girl who first cried “witch.” Something about this story is so resonant, Xavier says, “people seem to have a lot of ownership of it.” So when he talks about his company’s first original rock opera, Abigail: The Salem Witch Trials/The Rock Opera, which he co-wrote and co-directs with Daniel Knop and Kurt Brown, he always has to explain that his show, while assiduously researched, is neither a historical bio-play nor a reimagining of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Rather, it’s a story of “the personal redemption of a 12-year-old girl” who “denies what she’s told is the best thing in life” -- Puritanism, of course. Xavier fills in gaps in our historical knowledge of Abigail (Casey Castille) by imagining her life before and after the trial, all to original music that’s part Black Sabbath, part Beatles. Miller’s version of the story was “brilliant,” says Xavier, but he doesn’t explore as thoroughly the fact that Abigail and her co-accusers were just kids. “What does anyone really know at 12?”
Fridays, Saturdays, 9 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 1, 9 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 15, 9 p.m. Starts: Nov. 16. Continues through Nov. 24, 2012