Our Town

Chorley Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society’s latest production was something rather  different and experimental, namely Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” which was actually written and first performed at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey in 1938, and arguably it could be said was innovative for its time, the play then opened on Broadway and   won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play is set in the early 20th century and the story takes place over a 12 year period, looking at the lives of ordinary people, in a fictional New Hampshire town called Grover’s Corners (population 2,642). Wilder uses metatheatrical devices, which is a name for “the quality or force in a play which draws attention to its unreality, especially by the use of a play within a play”. 

This thought provoking production directed by Mark Jones more than met the high standards  and innovation  that we have come to expect from CADOS. There was original atmospheric music written by John Hamersley, which gave that extra something adding to the feel and success of the production.Lighting and sound was designed by Paul Carr and full costumes  organized by Sandra Dickinson and Susan Kennedy were used for the  central principle characters of the story and were just right for the period, other members of the cast wore black with the occasional add on for some scenes, which helped gave authenticity to the production and were effective. Well done to all backstage workers.  The setting for the production is the actual theatre where it is being performed, there really isn’t a set, just the bare shell of the stage, with a few exceptions for some of the scenes such as the use of two tables with chairs, two ladders and a picket fence , there were no props used, the actors expertly  mimed any actions which all worked very well

The main character in the play was the stage manager of the theatre who speaks directly to the audience acting as a narrator, here played with authority and confidence by the dependable and very talented Dave Reid. I counted 18 cast members altogether so unfortunately I won’t be able to mention all, but there was excellent acting, good pace and clear diction and happily everyone worked together to make this play a success producing very good performances with great characters, there were no weak links. In this production there are four acts named , Daily Life, Love, Marriage, Death and Eternity, where we observe the lives of  the Webb and Gibbs families who are neighbours, the story  centres specifically on two of the children, one from each family,Emily Webb and George Gibbs  played very well with sensitivity and believability by Amber Tabiner and Dom Nolan. The two grow up next door to each other, fall in love and get married, but in the last act sadly Emily dies and that’s when we see the devastation and lessons learned.Other family members included Sam Thurston as Dr Gibbs, Sara Norse as Mrs Gibbs, Sadie Christopher- Coles as Rebecca Gibbs, Danii Townsley as Mrs Webb, Jacob Lee-Prince as Mr Webb and James Clow as Wally Webb who also played Joe Crowell and Si Crowell.

The last act of the play Death and Eternity is very poignant and we find ourselves in a cemetery, the Stage Manager opens the act with a  monologue about eternity, he tells us about the people who have died since Emily and George’s wedding including Mrs. Gibbs and Wally Webb,  and we see all those who have died sitting impassively on chairs. gradually It becomes apparent that we are attending  Emily’s funeral, who died giving birth to her second child. Once the funeral is over Emily joins the other dead; she is warned by Mrs Gibb and others to forget her life,  to revisit it will cause her pain and distress but she refuses to listen and  returns to Earth to relive her 12th birthday. Emily is happy watching at first,  then she begins to realises that people don’t appreciate the joys of life and that life should be valued and treasured, she is upset and angry and asks the Stage Manager if anyone truly understands the value of their life, he replies to her question “No. The saints and poets, maybe—they do some."  Emily goes back to her grave and sits quietly like the other dead while her husband George is devastated at her graveside. The play then ends with comments from The Stage Manager who then simply wishes the audience a good night.

This play looks at life and death and appears rather light hearted in the first three acts but changes to a rather shocking look at life  in the dark and somber final act, there is grief  and frustration as well as feelings of inevitability for the way the living waste their time and their happiness, and don’t appreciate that life is precious , it is a philosophical work, and lessons can be learned by all as it is still very relevant today. Congratulations to everyone involved with this excellent very different production, I really enjoyed my evening.

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