‘Our Town’ illuminates life’s moments
Personal moments and milestone events link human lives across continents, cultures and centuries.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Thornton Wilder wove that central theme throughout his American classic “Our Town.”
Mother Road Theatre is staging the play familiar to all high school, college and community stages beginning Friday, Oct. 5.
Most regular theater fans have paid at least one visit to Wilder’s fictional New Hampshire village Grover’s Corners. Set with a cast of 19, the play centers on the everyday lives of two families, the Gibbs and the Webbs. Underlying their marriages, births and deaths murmurs the hope for something more and transcendent.
Most productions exert a heady perfume of nostalgia within the lyrical feeling of small town life.
But to Mother Road members, the play remains ever current and constant. The troupe is staging the scenes across the decades to emphasize its eternal relevance. Wilder cherished the sacrament of the simple, stripping his production of all sets and props.
“As people die off, it’s about coming to terms with your own existence and loving your life,” cast member Jessica Quindlen said.
The audience watches the young Emily grow from clever girl to nervous bride before joining her mother-inlaw in the cemetery after a difficult birth.
“She’s about 16 (when we meet her),” Quindlen said. “She’s a teenager and she is best friends with George and they’re in high school. He struggles because he has
become this popular kid and he’s been kind of mean to her. She confronts him and we see they really love each other.”
The character of the Stage Manager helps thread the characters and scenes together, introducing each of its inhabitants to the audience.
“It does have its sad moments,” Quindlen acknowledged.
“In the end, it’s uplifting,” she continued. “You need to enjoy every moment, if it’s your wedding or enjoying a milkshake with your grandfather.”