Thornton Wilder – Our Town

Author: Thornton Wilder

Genre: Play

Plot Outline: Based in the small town of Grover’s Corners, the play moves through arguably the three most important stages of a person’s life. Family life, marriage, and finally death. Following the lives of the inhabitants of the town, the play proves to be an almost allegorical representation of a small American town in the early part of the Twentieth century. ‘Our Town’ essentially takes the audience through the lives (and deaths) of a host of people who – for want of a better term – are ‘Joe public’.

Characters: Despite the seemingly bland outline of the play in question, there are actually a few interesting characters here. Although perhaps strangely, it is the minor characters who seem to be the most intriguing, making the reader/audience want to know more about backgrounds that are only vaguely hinted at. I suppose the pay-off is that the main characters, to most extents are easily accessible. You’ve probably lived next to a ‘Mrs Webb’, chatted to a ‘Mrs Soames’ and hung out with a ‘George’ or ‘Emily’ at school. Unfortunately, this doesn’t prevent them from seeming to be – if not dull – then rather ordinary and without any particularly interesting quirks or attributes.

Style: If we were going to first talk about the Sub-heading of the play, we would comment on the fact that it is written in three acts, instead of the more common two. This actually works rather well when reading through the play, splitting the different stages up into segments which had clear distinctions from the previous one. The ‘action’ itself however, moves backwards and forwards between different times, which would get rather confusing if it weren’t for the character of the ‘Stage Manager’, who is essentially the Narrator, helping the audience to keep up with what’s happening.

Critics: ‘Our Town’ has won acclaim through a number of critics, not including the Pulitzer Prize it managed to gain in 1938. Even Albert Einstein was a fan of this play. Yes, the Albert Einstein.

Opinions: Although this play has me divided on what I thought of it, essentially, it’s a very good production to go and see performed. When done correctly the emotions of the characters are really able to shine through – especially in the heart wrenching last act. However, if I was simply reading this play for leisure, I doubt I would have read past the first act. Which is a shame, because to read, it’s Act 3 that steals the glory. Large segments of the script actually made me want to skip to the next part, and at a read-through in an actual rehearsal, that’s never a good thing. I suppose my main umbrage lies with the character of the Stage Manager. I don’t mind plays which have narrators, but there were long segments of speech that were simply useless to the overall pacing of the play, slowing it down and losing my interest. Whilst ‘Our Town’ touches on certain topics that most people will be able to relate to, it’s spoiled by a hindrance of pacing at certain points. If you want to read this play instead of going to see it at the theatre, I’d suggest taking a glance at Act 3 first, where the majority of thought-provoking writing is.

Audience: 13+

One Response to “Thornton Wilder – Our Town”

1. Debby Encalade says:

   June 28, 2010 at 7:59 am

   I read your posts all the time, but have never commented. I just wanted to take the time to stop and tell you how much one reader appreciates your words. It seems most people only want to comment to point out how they disagree, but every once in a while we should just stop to say “Thanks!”.