Our Town
Part of the reason that Our Town has endured in our hearts since it debuted on Broadway in 1938 is its bare-bones presentation. Playwright Thornton Wilder wrote just before his death, “…there are no walls, no chairs, no tables: all is inward. Our true life in the imagination and in the memory” (1972). His portrait of small town life was already nostalgic in the thirties. Even today, without the limiting effects of sets and costumes, the audience can savor an idyllic look at America’s past over 100 years ago.
Although most of us have seen a production of this play at some time in our lives, there never was a production more acclaimed than the one at the Broad, headlined by Helen Hunt who plays the stage manager. First produced at a local theatre in Chicago, the play went on to off-Broadway in New York, weathering a number of able stage managers before settling on Ms. Hunt. Now we have a chance to see what the shouting is all about.
As spare as it is, Our Town was originally conceived for a proscenium stage. Director David Cromer ‘s major contribution is to erase the distance between the actors and audience, thus setting its action on a par with our own. To accommodate the concept, the Broad has been converted; bleachers have been erected and floor space filled in with chairs. The playing area consists of a narrow strip of open space containing two sets of kitchen tables. Scenes play out among the aisles with the actors sometimes conversing over the heads of spectators. Woe be to anyone who dares to text while an actor is mixing pancakes before one’s lap!
The excellent actors are consistent in their plainness. Helen Hunt’s Stage Manager is not above hurrying one scene along to make room for the next. She brooks no fools: Professor Willard (David LM McIntyre) gets short shrift for his long-winded dissertation on the Pleistocene age, for instance. Especially marvelous is James McMenamin as a lunk-headed George Gibbs, Lori Myers as his no-nonsense Mom, and Jonathan Mastro as Simon Stimson, who gains our sympathy just by being a truth-sayer and the pain of which makes him the town drunk.
The piece de resistance, however, is saved for the cemetery scene in last act, when Emily wishes to go home again for one last look before settling into the graveyard. I really don’t want to spoil the surprise, but the scene, designed by Stephen Dobay and erected with as much verisimilitude as a picture postcard, turns the anti-illusion of Wilder’s “inner” world on its ear. Changing from the full throttle house lights, Heather Gilbert’s strategic side-lighting lends an otherworldly quality to the proceedings while Alison Gilbert’s authentic, period outfits bely our “imagination and memory.”
Presumably, for every configuration of audience-and-playing space in this productions tri-city journey, the distance from spectator to actor enabled both to live comfortably together. At the Broad, however, the vertical stage floor makes for uneven audience reception. At times, the action plays out only inches away; at others it is difficult to hear and see.
Our Town performs through February 12th, 2012, Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:30 pm, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm, in and around the Broad Stage at 1310 Eleventh Street, Santa Monica 90401. Tickets range from $135.00 to $40.00. Phone (310) 434-3200 or online at www.thebroadstage.com for exact ticket prices and schedule.