Our Town - Fall Mainstage Play
Our Town by Thornton Wilder | Directed by Professor Wind Dell Woods
Our Town is a play that works to bring into relief the value of life through the small events and encounters of the everyday. There is a sobering simplicity or sincerity to the play which is augmented by its meta-theatrical and minimalist aesthetics. The fictional town of Grover’s Corner is represented on and through a nearly empty stage, no curtain nor scenery. For me, Wilder seeks to trace the forces of life beyond the brick and mortar which often remain the only testament of human living. In doing so, he validates the plain beauty and cyclerity of everyday life events. In our own time, in our own town(s) and cities similar events take place that mark similar subtly beautiful attempts at living. More and more, however, the ubiquitous presence of portable technology designed to enhance communication and bring us closer together often leave us feeling more distracted and disconnected. How can we seek out connections and communal spaces that are unmediated by technology? How might leaving aside the technical accoutrements of this advanced capitalist world alter and enhance how we see each other, the world, ourselves together in the world? Taking a turn with Wilder, this production seeks to strip away the adornments and get down to the scaffolding of a theatrical event in hopes to catch a glimpse of the vital forces behind the structural forms. Wilder asserts that “our claim, our hope our despair are in the mind—not in things, not in ’scenery.’” Returning to the bones of this thing called theatre requires us to rediscover our ability to imagine and sharpen our skills of using play as a way of practicing how to live fuller and freer lives.
Performance Times:
- Oct 27, 28: 7:30 p.m.
- Nov 2, 3, 4: 7:30 p.m.
- Nov 4: 2 p.m.
Norton Clapp Theatre, Jones Hall