Our Town by Thornton Wilder
The Herndon Times Review
THEATER
Wilder's word ring modern on area stages
Elden Street Players find their moonlight in 'Our Town'
By Michael Birchenall
Weekender Theater Critic
Weekender Section, Page 16, continued on Page 23
TIMES COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER (The Herndon Times)
Wednesday, June 14, 2000
Thornton Wilder's 1938 play "Our Town" is a brilliant piece of
American theater and his mostly widely performed work. While it's easy to
lose the play's intellectual dimension in the empty stage setting required by
the playwright, Elden Street Players (ESP) and director David Fallen were not
afraid to tackle the task set forth by WIlder. The ESP production is
sharp, focused and incorporates the power of the Wilder play about life's
moments that can pass us by without the needed sense of reflection and
digestion.
The beauty is that Wilder's words are just as meaningful today. In the
21st century, the obvious attention by the news and our own social interaction
is how different the world is today. Fallen brings us the naked set of
Wilder, to peel back the basic journey of man through life -- all within the
small New Hampshire community of Grovers Corners. You can appreciate the
beauty of a milk delivery by a man and his horse and the flying into a yard of a
newspaper or the birth of a child. What is really different?
Narrated by the stage manager Bill Davis, the three acts capture sharp,
insightful glimpses of the lives of two families through three periods in their
lives. The Wilder play requires a strong performance by the stage manager,
and Bill Davis holds up his end of the deal with the playwright and
director. Through his obvious storytelling talent, Davis carries out the
Wilder commitment to involve the audience directly in the emotion and passion of
the moments of Grover Corners' life and death. Davis brings us inside the
stage and makes the audience one with the story.
The supporting cast has been capably assembled by Fallen. Key strong
performances are given by Wendy Cohen as Mrs. Gibbs and Renee Moyer as Mrs.
Webb. They complement each other as they take us through their daily
actions. Cohen particularly carries her distinction of sharp reality doses
all the way to her last moments in the graveyard. Again Fallen achieves
the same cohesion in his treatment of the two men of the families -- Rick Kenney
as Dr. Gibbs and John Shea as Mr. Webb. Shea gives a wonderful portrait of
the local newspaper figure.
Less successful are the characters of the two youngsters whose lives are
followed by the story line. Michael Plummer as the young George Gibbs does
not quite carry us into the pathos that later envelopes his life. Jen
Cravey as Emily Webb is delightful but lacks the fuller characterization that
would have taken her role beyond the softer, easier interpretation.
J. Glen Sartori has a wonderful feel for capturing the details of the Grovers
Corners life as the milkman. You find yourself waiting for another day to
pass so you might see the simple man and his horse making their trek into the
community -- as deliciously performed as the milk and cream he left at the
doorsteps.
Michael Russell as Constable Warren passes through in the same transitory
manner. Each time he gives the audience a small piece of his character's
life, sharing a small detail of the day's events. With a sense of peaceful
understatement, Russell was just right.
Lighting design by J. Neal Ellis gives a fine treatment of the minimalist
staging as required by the playwright. Sound design by Eric Kritzler
continues the fine work that audiences have come to expect at ESP.
"Our Town" is powerful. The production needs a strong hand to
harness its reflective introspection of life and death. Elden Street
Players steps up once again and delivers a production that feeds the life of our
souls. I hope I can find the moonlight tonight.
© Copyright 2000 Times Community Newspapers
