Our Town is a
three-actThe Three-Act Structure is a model used in writing and evaluating modern storytelling which divides a screenplay into a three parts called the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution.- Structure :...
play by American playwright
Thornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives (particularly George Gibbs, a doctor's son, and Emily Webb, the daughter of the town's newspaper editor and George's future wife). Using
metatheatricalThe term "metatheatre", coined by Lionel Abel, has entered into common critical usage; however, there is still much uncertainty over its proper definition and what dramatic techniques might be included in its scope...
devices, Wilder sets the play in a 1930s theater. He uses the actions of the Stage Manager to create the town of Grover's Corners for the audience. Scenes from its history between the years of 1901 and 1913 play out.
Wilder wrote the play while in his 30s. In June 1937, he lived in the
MacDowell ColonyThe MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
in
Peterborough, New HampshirePeterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
, one of the many locations where he worked on the play. During a visit to
ZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in September 1937, he drafted the entire third act in one day after a long evening walk in the rain with a friend, author
Samuel Morris StewardSamuel Morris Steward , also known by the pen name Phil Andros, was a novelist and tattoo artist from Ohio, later based in Oakland, California.-Biography:...
.
Our Town was first performed at McCarter Theater in
Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
on 22 January 1938. It next opened at the Wilbur Theater in
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
on 25 January 1938. Its New York City debut was on 4 February 1938 at
Henry Miller's TheatreThe Stephen Sondheim Theatre, formerly Henry Miller's Theatre, is a Broadway theatre located at 124 West 43rd Street, between Broadway and 6th Avenue, in Manhattan's Theatre District.-History:...
, and later moved to the
Morosco TheatreThe Morosco Theatre was a legitimate theatre located at 217 West 45th Street in the heart of the theater district in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States....
. The play was produced and directed by
Jed HarrisJed Harris was a renowned Austrian-American theater producer and director, and writer of film.-Personal history:...
. Wilder received the
Pulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
in 1938 for the work.
In 1946, the Soviet Union prevented a production of
Our Town in the Russian sector of occupied Berlin "on the grounds that the drama is too depressing and could inspire a German suicide wave."
Background
The play is set in the fictional community of Grover's Corners,
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, modeled upon several towns in the
Mount MonadnockMount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is the most prominent New England mountain peak south of the White Mountains and east of the Massachusetts Berkshires, and is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire...
region:
JaffreyJaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,457 at the 2010 census.The primary settlement in town, where 2,757 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place and is located along the Contoocook River at the...
,
PeterboroughPeterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
,
DublinDublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,597 at the 2010 census. It is home to both the Dublin School and Yankee Magazine.-History:...
, and others. The narrator gives the coordinates of Grover's Corners as 42°40′ north latitude and 70°37′ west longitude, which is in
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, about a thousand feet off the coast of
RockportRockport is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,952 at the 2010 census. Rockport is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula...
.
Our Town's narrator, the Stage Manager, is completely aware of his relationship with the audience, leaving him free to break the
fourth wallThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
and address them directly. According to the script, the play is to be performed with little
sceneryTheatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine item, appropriated...
, no
setSet construction is the process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of a production to create the set for a theatrical, film or television production...
and minimal
propsA theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
. Wilder was dissatisfied with the theatre of his time: "I felt that something had gone wrong....I began to feel that the theatre was not only inadequate, it was evasive." His answer was to have the characters mime the objects with which they interact. Their surroundings are created only with chairs, tables, and ladders. (e.g., The scene in which Emily helps George with his evening homework, conversing through upstairs windows, is performed with the two actors standing atop separate ladders to represent their neighboring houses.) Says Wilder, "Our claim, our hope, our despair are in the mind – not in things, not in 'scenery.'"
Characters
Main characters:
- Dr. Frank F. Gibbs
- Stage Manager
- Mrs. Myrtle Webb
- Mr. Charles Webb
- Emily Webb
- George Gibbs
- Mrs. Julia Gibbs
Secondary characters
- Simon Stimson
- Joe Crowell
- Howie Newsome
- Rebecca Gibbs
- Wally Webb
- Professor Willard
- Woman in Auditorium
- Man in Auditorium
- Another Woman in Auditorium
- Si Crowell
- Mrs. Soames
- Constable Warren
- Three Baseball Players
- Joe Stoddard
- Sam Craig
- Dead Man
- Dead Woman
- Mr. Carter
- Farmer McCarthy
The Plot of Our Town
The Stage Manager guides the play, taking questions from the audience, describing the locations (as scenery is sparse) and making key observations about the world the play creates.
Act I: Daily Life
The play begins with the Stage Manager describing the town. After this come scenes in the Gibbs' and Webbs' homes, where both families prepare their children for school. The Stage Manager then guides the audience through a day in the life of the town. The local milkman, Howie Newsome, reappears during every morning scene—once each in Acts I, II, and III—highlighting the continuity of life in Grover's Corners and in the general human experience. The Stage Manager also has Professor Willard, a long-winded local historian, and Mr. Webb, editor of the
Grover's Corners Sentinel, talk about the town. During this scene, Editor Webb answers some questions from actors who have been planted in the audience. After a scene within the
Congregational ChurchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
at a choir practice, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Gibbs, and Mrs. Soames discuss Simon Stimson. Stimson is the church organist with a reputation for being a drunkard. Due to his non-conforming nature, he is often the subject of the town's gossip. The act also includes a scene in which George and Emily discuss school. Also on the ladder, George's younger sister Rebecca, talks about the moon and how it might get nearer and nearer until there's a "big 'splosion'". Rebecca proceeds to tell George about a letter that a girl received from her minister in which the address on the envelope says, "Jane Crofut, the Crofut farm, Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, United States of America, continent of North America, the Western Hemisphere, the world, the solar system, the universe, the mind of God," in a reference to how all people are connected through humanity. The subject of "daily life" addressed throughout this act stereotypes the average "American family."
Act II: Love and Marriage
Three years pass and George and Emily announce their plans to wed. The day is filled with stress, topped off by George's visit to the Webb family home. There, he meets Mr. Webb, who tells George of his own father's advice to him: to treat his wife like property and never to respect her needs. Mr. Webb then says that he did the exact opposite of his father's advice and has been happy since. Mr. Webb concludes by telling George not to take advice from anyone on matters of that nature. Here, the Stage Manager interrupts the scene and takes the audience back a year, to the end of Emily and George's junior year. Over an ice cream soda, Emily confronts George about his pride, and they discuss the future and their love for each other. The wedding follows, where George, in a fit of nervousness, tells his mother that he is not ready to marry. Emily, too, tells her father of her anxiety about marriage, saying she wishes she were dead. However, they both regain their composure, and George proceeds down the aisle to be wed by the preacher (played by the Stage Manager). Mrs. Soames is very pleased with the whole affair, as she says, "Isn't this the loveliest wedding?" The text is interrupted by the individual thoughts in a modern twist to Shakespeare's soliloquy.
Act III: Death and Eternity
The setting for Act III is a cemetery near Grover's Corners. The Stage Manager opens this act with a lengthy monologue emphasizing eternity, expressed by the survival of Emily's second child after Emily herself dies giving birth. Emily's coffin is brought to the cemetery and buried, and she emerges from the mourners as a spirit. She joins her relatives and fellow townsfolk in the graveyard, including her mother-in-law, Mrs. Gibbs, Simon Stimson, Mrs. Soames, Wally Webb and Mr. Carter. The dead tell her that they must wait and forget the life that came before, but Emily refuses. Soon Emily's ghost learns it is possible to re-live parts of her past. Despite the warnings of Simon, Mrs. Soames, and Mrs. Gibbs, Emily decides to return to Earth to re-live just one day, her 12th birthday, and realizes just how much life should be valued, "every, every minute." Poignantly, she asks the Stage Manager whether anyone realizes life while they live it, and is told, "No. The saints and poets, maybe--they do some." She then returns to her grave. The Stage Manager concludes the play with a monologue and wishes the audience a good night.
Awards and nominations
Awards
- 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
- 1989 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors. It honors the Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, or legitimate not-for-profit theater revival of a production previously staged in New York City.It...
- 1989 Tony Award for Best Revival
The Tony Award for Best Revival was presented from 1977 until 1994, when it was split into the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. If there are not enough revivals, it is possible under the current Tony rules for the "Best Revival of a Play or...
Adaptations
The play has been adapted numerous times:
- Our Town on May 12, 1939, as the 23rd episode of The Campbell Playhouse
The Campbell Playhouse was a CBS radio drama series directed by and starring Orson Welles. Produced by John Houseman, it was a sponsored continuation of the Mercury Theatre on the Air...
. Narrated by Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
as the Stage Manager, with George Craven as George Gibbs, and Patricia Newton as Emily Webb, et alia.
- Our Town (1940 film), adaptation starring William Holden and Martha Scott. Many members of the original cast repeated their roles in this film, but the ending was drastically changed.
- Our Town (1940 radio), on May 6, 1940, a radio version was performed by many of the same film actors for Lux Radio Theater.
- Our Town (television)
Our Town is a 1955 episode of the American series Producers' Showcase directed by Delbert Mann and starring Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. The episode is an adaption of Thornton Wilder's 1938 play Our Town.- Cast :...
, a live musical 1955 TV adaptation on Producers' ShowcaseProducers' Showcase is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8 p.m. ET for three seasons, beginning October...
starring Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as the Stage Manager, Paul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
as George Gibbs, and Eva Marie SaintEva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
as Emily. The first and only musical version of the play to be telecast (so far).
- Our Town, a 1977 television adaptation of the play, starring Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
as the Stage Manager, Robby BensonRobby Benson is an American film and television actor, television director, educator and singer.-Early life:Benson was born Robin David Segal in Dallas, Texas, the son of Freda Ann , a singer, actress, and business promotions manager, and Jerry Segal, a writer...
as George, and Glynnis O'ConnorGlynnis O'Connor is an American actress, perhaps best known for her work in the mid-1970s, including her lead actress roles in the TV version of Our Town and the films Ode to Billy Joe and Jeremy, all of which co-starred Robby Benson.O'Connor was born in New York City, the daughter of stage, film...
as Emily
- Grover's Corners, a 1987 musical adaptation performed at the Marriott Theatre
The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, USA is a respected Chicago area regional theatre. Attached to the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, the theatre produces an average of five musicals each year, presented in the round, as well as productions aimed at younger audiences...
.
- Our Town, a 1989 telecast of a Lincoln Center stage production starring Spalding Gray
Spalding Rockwell Gray was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, performance artist and monologuist...
, Frances ConroyFrances Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth, the matriarch of the Fisher family, on Six Feet Under, which earned her a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.-Early life:...
, Penelope Ann MillerPenelope Ann Miller , sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress...
, and Eric StoltzEric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
- Our Town (2003 film)
Our Town is a 2003 film adaptation of the famous play of the same name by Thornton Wilder. It stars Paul Newman, who was nominated for both an Emmy and a SAG award for outstanding acting. It was shown on PBS as part of Masterpiece Theatre after first being shown on the cable channel Showtime. It...
, a made-for-TV adaptation of a 2002 Broadway revival starring Paul Newman, this time as the Stage Manager
- Our Town (opera)
Our Town is a three-act opera by composer Ned Rorem and librettist J. D. McClatchy. It is the first opera to be adapted from the Thorton Wilder play of the same name...
, an operatic version of the play with music by Ned Rorem
- An award-winning revival of Our Town opened at the Barrow Street Theatre
Barrow Street Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre venue located in New York City's historic Greenwich House. Previously home to Drama Dept. the space was leased to Barrow Street Theatre in 2003 and has been home to long-running Off-Broadway hits, Bug by Tracy Letts and Orson's Shadow by Austin...
on February 26, 2009. The production was directed by David CromerDavid Cromer is an American theatre director and stage actor. He has received recognition for his work Off-Broadway and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town...
, who also performed the role of Stage Manager for much of the show's run. Upon closing, the production had played four preview and 644 regular performances, making it the longest-running production of the play in its history. In addition to Cromer, other notable actors who performed in the role of Stage Manager included Helen HuntHelen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
, Michael McKeanMichael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne and Shirley; and for his work in the Christopher Guest ensemble films, particularly as David St...
, Jason Butler HarnerJason Thomas Butler Harner is an American actor.-Biography:Harner was born in Elmira, New York and grew up in suburban Northern Virginia, where he had the opportunity of seeing a handful of plays at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. His middle name Butler is his mother’s maiden name. He graduated...
, Stephen KunkenStephen Kunken is an American actor, best known for his work in theatre. His Broadway credits include Frost/Nixon, Rock 'n' Roll, and Enron, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play.-Career:...
and Michael ShannonMichael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
.
External links