Our Town

by Monikha Reyes

Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, has been performed time by many theatre companies and schools alike. This play is a classic, known for its slice of life of the early twentieth century. Depending on the performers, it can either be a thrill to watch or an unbearable experience. Luckily, this production of Our Town was absolute fun.

In three acts, the audience gets a view of the everyday lives of the townspeople, focusing in on George Gibbs (the son of the town’s doctor), and Emily Webb (the daughter of the newspaper editor), and their families. We see the milkman and his heifer, the newspaper boy, the drunken choir director, and the other townspeople who make this play colorful. Our narrator, the Stage Manager, guides the play along, pointing out facts and observations about the world of the play that we might overlook.

The play is always done with the minimum of props. That means that all the plates, cupboards, and food are all not there - that is, unless you’re really into the play. However, this version had a surprising twist in the end that was something I have never seen before - it took me aback.

The beginning of the first act can be a bit tedious, if only for the language (keep in mind the play takes place at the start of the 1900's). And though the speech is old, the wardrobe is modern-day.

I would encourage play-lovers to see this classic - it’s entertaining, fun, sad and happy -everything you need in a great play.

TICKETS: THRU SEPTEMBER 12th ONLY! $20 student rush • Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St.

Our Town

by Ben Wolfson

“ ”. That’s the most poignant moment of Our Town. You didn’t catch that? Here, I’ll say it again, “ ”. You probably think there is a spelling mistake or that the wrong article was published. Let me explain.

In order not to spoil the whole play for you (not to mention the third act, which is so vivid, due to its profound moments of induced introspection and self-evaluation), I’ll summarize it in a sentence: Boy in suburban town meets girl, they get married and then the third act.

The few props onstage are used creatively. For instance, one of the chairs is put on the table to symbolize the second story of the house. The actors are so in tune with their characters that they seem to have grown up in Grover’s Corners.

The “ ” is silence. Funny how a show can be so loud when nothing is said. The silences in Our Town puncture the fabric of the fourth wall* and, just like the Stage Manager who narrates the play, the silences tell us of the deeper woes, thoughts and feelings of the characters.

If you’re a teenager looking for a show with humor and heart that will give you a new found respect for life, see Our Town. You won’t regret it.

*Fourth Wall: The invisible line that divides the actors from the audience.

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $20 student rush • Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St.

Our Town

by Dalia Wolfson

When you first come to the Barrow Street Theater, it seems a little shabby. But just wait a while, until the lights go down, and a man with bright, searching eyes enters the room. He is the Stage Manager (a character, not tech person) and he holds a glowing cell phone. You've probably already extinguished yours, but sit quietly and wait for him to talk, not into the phone, but to you.  Because once the Stage Manager begins to speak, he will conjure up a whole county within several square feet. Grover's Corners of the early twentieth century will materialize in front of your eyes, filling the theater, with pulsating air.

The Stage Manager directs the audience through the childhood, adolescence, and brief adulthood and marriage of Emily Webb and George Gibbs. Their relationship is sweet, like a sort of simple sugar, with a proposal over cherry soda. Eventually, that sugar of life will heat up, turn to caramel, and finally to carbon ashes.

The final act, in particular, brings an added dimension to the story (including a stunning surprise), making the audience reconsider life and the monotony of daily routines. Playwright Thorton Wilder reminds us that, too often, we don't pay attention to “clocks ticking...and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths...and sleeping and waking up.” The audience is forced to realize that we have an obligation to truly appreciate the beauty of this water, that bird and the sound of heliotrope blossoms in the springtime.

We emerge from the theatre with a new breath. Sigh softly for the comfortable, unconscious world of Grover's Corners, summoned and snapped shut by the Stage Manager's careful words. Director David Cromer has created a masterpiece out of Wilder's script, molding the characters, settings and speech into a little microcosm that provides a patch of warmth on a cold autumn evening.

So when it is time to leave this town and enter the next one, our planet, make sure you're not just acting. For Pete's sake, live, breathe and be Wilder. Now more than ever, the earth needs an encore. 

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $20 student rush. Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St.