Interview: Diany Rodriguez Humanizes a Familiar Antagonist in ABIGAIL/1702 at Aurora Theatre

Can a liar be redeemed?

Aurora Theatre’s newest mainstage endeavor, Abigail/1702 revisits Arthur Miller’s The Crucible ten years after the Salem Witch Trials. Though, to go as far as calling this a sequel may be a misnomer.

“It’s kind of its own unique story,” shares actress Diany Rodriguez, starring as the title role through October 17. “Both [The Crucible and Abigail/1702] are works of fiction, although they’re based in realistic events. Abigail is what might have happened if these characters, as written, continued to live ten years later.”

In Abigail/1702, the finger-pointing girl whom fans of The Crucible have a special hatred for, Abigail Williams now leads an altruistic, secluded life in Boston. Haunted by her past in Salem when her knowingly false accusations about witchcraft in the town sent many innocent people to hang, this play sees Abigail piling on good deeds to make up for her sordid background. Using Miller’s characters, playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa asks enough questions to turn the story on its head.

“If you go into this thinking, ‘Okay, if the devil exists, and if the devil made Abigail do it, but the onus is on Abigail to have said “No,”’ then what is it in Abigail’s character or her circumstance that made her think this was the best way?  If there is a devil, and if she wanted to make a contract with him, why?  Is it because she wants power?  Is it because she inherently loves the feeling that making a contract with the devil gives her?” 

Rodriguez says the Devil himself very much plays a part in this story, though what exactly, she won’t say. “In Abigail, there’s more of an investigation over whether Abigail did have a contract with an actual devil that actually guided her to make some of the allegations that she did, or whether it was just her way to camouflage her own actions and her own need to serve herself and be a guide for her own survival.”

In addition to asking questions of Abigail’s character, this piece also explores the idea of redemption in a powerful way. “This is a whole fictionalized version of her story and telling what happens when our deeds have actual real-life consequences. Can we be redeemed after we’ve done so much to our detriment and- for Abigail- to the detriment of at least twenty others whom she sent to their death and the lives of the people who loved the people whom she sent to their death?”

Despite her character’s past, Rodriguez can empathize with her, pointing out how she was not set up for success from the beginning of The Crucible.

“It’s easy for me already to take her side because I do see her as a victim of her circumstance. Hey, she is wholly flawed.  Don’t get me wrong! But she also could have used help. There is a lot of potential thinking that her Uncle Parris abused her, so there’s a lot to be said for her circumstances and how she might have not even been in a great place to make decisions [in The Crucible], even had she not had a sexual affair with a much older man who happened to be married and have two children.”

Besides Abigail, which familiar characters from The Crucible will we see? That’s part of the surprise too.

“There are characters in Abigail that are very much central characters in The Crucible, and they are only billed as, ‘Young Man,’ ‘Young Woman,’ ‘Older Woman,’ ‘Older Man,’ and like ‘Young Child,'” she explains. “Even small characters in The Crucible that had some sort of impact on her appear in Abigail. And that’s about as much as I can say without giving it away!”

However, she did reveal that the audience will get some closure on pieces that Arthur Miller left hanging. “There is a scene where my stage manager said at one point, ‘I hope the audience gets on their feet and claps, because this is a moment we’ve wanted to see since The Crucible.’”

After Abigail/1702, Rodriguez will be switching gears to appear in the fun, family-centered Stone Mountain Christmas, and then The Followers at Seven Stages Theatre. But right now, this actress continues to share her contagious passion for both the multifaceted role of Abigail Williams and the show itself.

“Theatre is supposed to either let you escape or be a mirror to humanity or let you get in touch with your empathy or let you think really hard. Abigail/1702 is really beautiful, scary, and thought-provoking.”

Abigail/1702 runs on Aurora Theatre’s mainstage through October 17. Click here to purchase tickets!

Diany Rodriguez:
Notable Atlanta Credits: Significant Other, Informed Consent, Hands on a Hardbody, Homers, Bull Durham: The Musical, Rocky Horror Show, In Love and Warcraft, Zorro: The Musical, Into the Woods (X2), The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, and August: Osage County. Notable regional credits: Carrie: A Comedy (Sue), Marvelous Wonderettes (Suzy), Fame (Carmen). Tours: Rent (Mark’s Mom/US Mimi), Dora the Explorer (Dora). Off-B’way: Soul Kitchen (Sangita), Shlomo (Anjia/Ruth). Film/TV: Pepper’s Place (pilot),The Yellow Birds, Survivor’s Remorse. Up Next: Christmas Canteen at Aurora Theatre and Exit Strategy at True Colors Theatre. Thank you, people I love; I love you.