This past weekend, the Upper school performed Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. The show illustrates the lives of the people of Grover’s Corners, a small and rather unremarkable town giving home to many rather unremarkable people. The stage manager, played by Karishma Singh, is a character who moves the audience through the plot, guiding us through significant moments and small details that help clarify the overall ideas of the show. I was fortunate enough to view this show, and while I can’t say I was incredibly excited by the prospect of a play about very ordinary people’s ordinary lives, I was met with what was a very pleasant surprise. Our Town was, in fact, incredibly thought provoking, and carried a very beautiful message.
Terry Guerin, the director of the show, was met with a rather large predicament at the beginning of the year. A bout of controversy drove her to select a different play than was originally planned. When she chose Our Town, she had to re-cast the entire show, re-direct the entire show, and let everyone involved with management know of the switch. Despite all of this, she was able to put on a well-casted, meaningful performance. Along with the leads, who did an incredible job, there was an ensemble, whose jobs were equally as important and equally as well-acted. The ensemble, or the townsfolk, was a well-thought out method to advance the plot, summarize the story, and carry props on and off in a creative fashion. They also sang quite a bit, which was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. It was a beautiful arrangement, and was executed incredibly well.
As for the lead characters, there were some very clear character choices made. For example, Jesse Gross’s very memorable and enthusiastic performance made his character, Mr. Webb, a spot of joy in the rather melancholy story. The actor who played George Gibbs, Max Foote, was also magnificent. He was able to show just the right of amount of awkward charm and overall nerve that is absolutely necessary when playing the character of George. There were, of course, so many fantastic actors that I can’t specify each one of them, but I would like to say once again that this show was very well acted.
Costume design was another strong aspect of this show. All the costumes felt very accurate to the time period, and were tailored very well to each character. Costume design and wardrobe management was by Lexa Grace, who did a fantastic job.
The ending of the show was one spot of controversy. Emily, who has died, speaks about how humans do not pay attention to their lives. It’s an interesting point, but one I personally didn’t agree with. The plot of the show revolves around this idea, but it was so contradictory. I took the entirety of the play to be a sort of memoir for people who felt like their lives were not special in any way, but still appreciated them. That’s where the issue stems from. Every character seemed to appreciate their lives, and many people appreciate their lives. Perhaps it was more of a projection from Thornton Wilder than something that applies to everyone. In the end, all the actors walked on stage holding lamps, then turned them off, one by one. It felt very sentimental of not only the memory of these characters, but the memory of our own lives being whisked away.