Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town depicts the mundane trials of daily life and why people should not wait until death to understand how to live.
The Stage Manager (played by James Black) directs the characters and the pace of the play, and also narrates the story. He opens the play by telling audience members that it’s 1901, and proceeds to describe the scenery. The Stage Manager introduces viewers to the characters as they enter each scene, representing the awakening of the residents in the town of Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire.
Each introduction by the Stage Manager gives the audience a sense that the play, the town and the people are being formed before their very eyes.
The first act centers on the energy and excitement of everyday life. Mrs. Gibbs (Josie de Guzman) and Mrs. Webb (Charlotte Booker) start the day making breakfast and getting their children ready for school.
In between work, school and social life, George Gibbs (Jay Sullivan) and Emily Webb (Elizabeth Bunch) develop a mutual attraction for each other that starts with after-school talks, conversing through windows at night and sharing ice cream sodas.
The second act focuses on George and Emily’s wedding. The doubts they each have before walking down the aisle are realistic portrayals of a fear of the unknown and the desire to be loved completely.
The third act consists of Emily’s death from childbirth complications. Emily finds herself alongside her mother-in-law, Mrs. Gibbs, and numerous other town members. She struggles between wanting to visit the life she lived and accepting death in the future.
‘ Emily learns that those still living wander through life never understanding the true meaning of it, and that only in death do people find the meaning they searched for all along.
The play is unique in its production sets. It uses a minimal amount of equipment, including chairs, tables and two ladders to represent the separate houses. The actors’ movements depict everything else, from dishes and utensils to food and doors.
Our Town is one of the best productions to come to Houston in recent years. The storyline is fantastic and the theme is universal. The characters reflect the people of the time, and the trials they face are relatable to everyone.
Our Town is currently playing at the Alley Theater through Nov. 1.
