‘Our Town’ Beautifully Presented
“Our Town” Spokane Civic Theatre, Friday night
Everybody in America should see “Our Town” at least once.
This 1938 Thornton Wilder masterpiece about a small American town and its way of “livin’ and dyin”’ is more than just a brilliant piece of American theater. It’s a profound look at some of the biggest questions of our existence - what is the nature of life, and why do we insist on frittering away our time here on petty concerns?
This is the kind of play that, while it entertains, can also change the way you look at life.
The Spokane Civic Theatre’s production successfully transmits both the entertainment and the deeper messages. The evidence of this play’s success: the laughter rolling through the audience in the lighter moments, the tears rolling down the cheeks in the bittersweet third act, and the almost reverent air of solemnity as the audience filed out.
Director John G. Phillips wisely chose to stage this play in the simple, traditional manner. There is little in the way of scenery, besides a trellis or two to suggest a garden in Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire. The upper-story windows of the Gibbs home and the Webb home are represented by the customary ladders. Drama is achieved through the effective use of pools of light, which the characters step into as if in a dream. This gives “Our Town” the plain and timeless atmosphere that it requires for maximum effect.
Phillips has also done an outstanding job of keeping his 24-person cast subdued and understated, just as they should be in turn-of-the-century New England, or should I say taciturn-ofthe-century New England.
By far the most impressive performance comes from Jack Bannon (whom you might remember as Donovan in “Lou Grant”) as the Stage Manager. Bannon is, if I may be permitted to gush here, an utterly perfect choice for this role. As he thoughtfully strolls the stage, cane in hand, he projects an effortless folksy charm in the manner of, but not imitative of, Hal Holbrook. He is commanding in a way which manages not to be domineering. He is informal, droll and his New England accent is right on the mark.
He not only sounds the part, he looks the part. With his vest and pocket watch and his long, lean Yankee frame, he looks like an uncommonly wise train conductor. You might say he is conducting us into a kind of a fourth theatrical dimension, in which we can finally see ourselves as we really are.
Robert J. Martin and Elizabeth Mealey, as George Gibbs and Emily Webb, the young lovers in the cast, also are nicely understated and effective. They, along with Michael K. Hynes, Cheryl-Anne Millsap, Judi Pratt and Jerry Sciarrio, as their parents, convey a commonplace yet completely admirable air of decent people going about their lives as best they can.
However, as Wilder demonstrates so clearly, humans are inadequate to the task of appreciating the sheer gift of being alive, because we are so tied up in its petty concerns. This is what the solemn, yet peaceful inhabitants of the Grover’s Corner cemetery mean when they nod sadly and say that the living “don’t understand.”
I first saw “Our Town” when I was 14 and I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say it changed my life. It made me want to do what Wilder says we so often fail to do - to look hard at life, and to really drink in the people and the places and the moments of our lives. Like most people, I fail at this 99 percent of the time. Yet it also made me want to become a writer, because I couldn’t think of anything more noble than to be able to communicate these truths with words, the way Wilder did.
Well, 32 years later, I haven’t changed my mind about “Our Town.” This play is a gift, and the Spokane Civic Theatre has wrapped it beautifully for us.
“Our Town” continues through April 29. Call 325-2507 for tickets.