Back in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, when I had a decent bit of time on my hands, I decided to read Our Town, one of three works by Thornton Wilder to win a Pulitzer. I greatly enjoyed it, and hoped that one of our local theaters would put it on stage.
While the usual suspects have not yet done so, I was thrilled to see that my friend Tara, now theater arts teacher at North High, decided to take on this classic with her students.
I wrote about the play itself in detail when I read it - you can read that here.
The challenge of performing this play is in no small part because nearly nothing happens the entire first act. There is just mundane, everyday life - meals, work, school, family. Everything is so ordinary, which is of course the point, as the play makes clear by the end.
While the central event is the love story between George and Emily, the young neighbors, this doesn’t lead to a simple “happily ever after.” Instead, we discover in the third act that she has died in childbirth, leaving behind a son and a husband.
It is at this point that the true theme of the play becomes apparent. Emily realizes as she revisits the past that most people move through life without being truly present, without realizing that the magic is in the everyday moments, the mundane happenings of daily life.
The late Terry Pratchett may have put it best:
“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it is called life.”
The striking thing about the play to me is that it lacks any grand tragedy, any grand events, anything that hasn’t happened thousands - maybe millions - of times before. While the death in childbirth is horrible and tragic for the grief-stricken family and friends, it is nothing out of the ordinary.
Wilder points out that it still means something. That all of it means something. That the breakfast you eat quickly before school matters. The commonplace romance matters. The simple conversations between neighbors matter. It all matters.
Which is why we should live our lives as if it matters. And that is a really positive and inspiring message.
This production was true to the original, with only a minor exception, and that includes everything from the set to the delivery of the lines. The sets were a couple of bare platforms, a couple of ladders, and a few bare walls. The costumes were a nod to the turn-of-the-nineteenth-century, but nothing fancy. A few of the leads gave a bit of a New England accent, but otherwise, Grover’s Corners was any town, and the time could in a way be our own, notwithstanding the obvious cultural references to the ways of the past.
The cast in this case was a lot bigger than typical - I am estimating 40ish? I assume that this was because of an abundance of students, which is always a good thing to have. Some parts were therefore non-speaking. The town was filled with everyday citizens.
This also made it easier to have the “questions” in the first act come from the stage, rather than actors carefully planted in the audience.
One of the best things about seeing a high school production, particularly when, as for North High, it isn’t the shiny new school where all the rich kids go, is that for many students, this is probably their first time on stage. Perhaps their first time memorizing a large number of lines as well. It is a beautiful thing to watch, kids finding their way around a classic work, making it their own.
Tara said in her introductory remarks that she loves teenagers. And I have to agree with her. Teens get an unfair rap in our society all too often. Normal human development at that age is complicated, and calls for patience, of course. But it also is fascinating to watch. I wouldn’t want to be a teen again, but I still remember the feelings. Watching these teens bring art to life was a reminder that each generation finds its way.
There wasn’t a program, so I have no idea who anyone was in this show - I don’t know them…yet. Perhaps some will find themselves on stage at Bakersfield College, or one of our local theaters, in the future.
Overall, I thought the production was great. The lines were clear and enunciated, but also emotional. The actors played off each other well. I felt that the characters were personal, not merely true to the source. Everyone seemed thoroughly prepared, rehearsed, and coached. They have every reason to be proud of the work they did and the art they created.
One of the things I think is a real strength of our town (the real one where I live) is the number of truly dedicated teachers that do great work in not just teaching but in real involvement with their students. We have a good arts and music scene here, and a significant factor is the investment in the next generation that so many of my friends and acquaintances do day in and day out.
You know, those everyday, mundane things that can be overlooked or seen as unimportant. As Wilder insisted, it is those things that truly matter the most.
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My wife, who attended the play with me, pointed out that “Grover’s Corners” was probably the inspiration for the fictional New Jersey town in the Henry Reed books by Keith Robertson. Of course, Robertson’s version was “Grover’s Corner” - the town was so small it really just had the one.
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