SYNOPSIS

In the small town of Grover’s Corners, ordinary people lead extraordinary lives. This simple yet profound story of a community, brought to life by Thornton Wilder’s singular voice, allows us to contemplate life, death and the meaning of it all. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

ABOUT THORNTON WILDER Courtesy of the Thornton Wilder Family

Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) was a pivotal figure in the literary history of the twentieth-century. He is the only writer to win Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and drama. He received the Pulitzer for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) and the plays

Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942). His other best-selling novels include The Cabala, The Woman of Andros, Heaven’s My Destination, The Ides of March, The Eighth Day and Theophilus North. His other major dramas include The Matchmaker (adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly!) and The Alcestiad. The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, Pullman Car Hiawatha and The Long Christmas Dinner are among his well-known shorter plays.

Wilder’s many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Book Committee’s Medal for Literature and the Goethe-Plakette Award (Germany).

Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 17, 1897. He spent part of his boyhood in China and was educated principally in California, graduating from Berkeley High School in 1915. After attending Oberlin College for two years, he transferred to Yale,

History and

Background

Thornton Wilder as a college freshman

By Thornton Wilder

where he received his BA in 1920. His post-graduate studies included a year spent studying archaeology and Italian at the American Academy in Rome (1920-21) and graduate work in French at Princeton (Master’s degree, 1926).

In addition to his talents as a playwright and novelist, Wilder was an accomplished essayist, translator, research scholar, teacher, lecturer, librettist and screenwriter. In 1942, he teamed up with Alfred Hitchcock on the classic psycho-thriller Shadow of a Doubt. Versed in foreign languages, he translated and adapted plays by Ibsen, Sartre and Obey. He read and spoke German, French and Spanish, and his scholarship included significant research on James Joyce and Lope de Vega.

Wilder enjoyed acting and played major roles in several of his plays in summer theater productions. He also possessed a life-long love of music and wrote librettos for two operas, one based on The Long Christmas Dinner (composer Paul Hindemith) and the other based on The Alcestiad (composer Louis Talma).

One of Wilder’s deepest passions was teaching. He began this career in 1921 as an instructor in French at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. During the 1930’s he taught courses in Classics in Translation and Composition at the University of Chicago. In 1950–51, he served as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard.

During WWII, Wilder served in the Army Air Force Intelligence. He was awarded the Legion of Merit Bronze Star, the Legion d’honneur and the Order of the British Empire.

In 1930, with the royalties received from The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Wilder built a home for himself and his family in Hamden, Connecticut. Although often away from home, restlessly seeking quiet places in which to write, he always returned to “The House The Bridge Built.” He died here on December 7, 1975.

Wilder acting in a production of Our

Town

Wilder in 1935, a few years before Our Town was written

More information on Thornton Wilder and his family is available in Penelope Niven’s definitive biography, Thornton Wilder: A Life (2013) as well as on the Wilder Family website, www.thorntonwilder.com

THE LEGACY OF OUR TOWN

Since its premiere in1938, Our Town has been performed somewhere in the world at least once a day. Beloved by student, amateur, and professional theatre troupes alike, Our Town’s legacy has endured over the past 80 years. It may come as a surprise to modern audiences, however, that Our Town opened to mixed critical reviews. According to theatre historian Louis Botto, “[Our Town] played in Boston and Boston did not like it. They were not accustomed to seeing a play without scenery and a lot of theatregoers walked out on it.” In fact, the play almost did not make it to Broadway. “It was a radical moment for Broadway,” recalled theatre historian Jeremy McCarter in a 2009 interview. “This was around the same time Orson Wells was doing his federal theatre programs (late 1930s). There was this amazing flowering of innovation in and around Broadway…People on Broadway weren’t used to--both experimental and traditional content. It delivers this punch like nothing else in the American theatre.”The longest running production of Our Town played Off Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre from2009-2010. It was directed by and stared David Cromer (director of The Band’s Visit) as the Stage Manager. He described the play as being about “the everlasting regret about all those moments in life that go unappreciated, even if appreciating them is impossible.” Our Town has not only touched the lives of students and audiences around the globe, but it has changed the way we write and create theatre. “A lot of things Wilder

The original Our Town playbill

introduced with this play have just become vocabulary,” explained David Cromer. “We just do them...there was certainly material like this [already]. There was probably material like this downtown. But certainly a commercial production on Broadway [would have been] really difficult.” In an interview with the Wilder Family, playwright Will Eno, whose play Middletown both echoes and expands upon what Wilder was exploring in Our Town, noted, “[Our Town] demonstrates in a gentle and plain way, without a lot of fireworks, what it means to be a human being.” Wilder’s boldness created a new world of possibilities for the American theatre. It granted commercial playwrights, directors, and producers the permission to suspend reality and rely on the audience’s imagination.

In an interview with Samuel French, Tappan Wilder, Thornton Wilder’s nephew, reflected on the impact of Our Town: “I think Our Town is

extraordinary because...Thornton Wilder shows well when times are raw...suddenly it’s not just a little play about our town. It’s what Thorton Wilder meant it to be. He doesn’t have any answers, but he asks [questions], and he apparently asks them right because people come back for more all the time.”

A 1938 review of Our Town in the Daily

News

Our Town at the Barrow Street Theatre, 2009

GET TO KNOW “OUR TOWN”—WESTON, VERMONT Weston, originally a part of Andover called West Town, was incorporated in 1799. Tucked between Markham and Terrible Mountains, Weston was both a small agricultural village and mill town in its early years. By 1859, Weston’s population was 950—which is over 300 more people than inhabit the town today.

In 1935, the town built the Weston Playhouse. A church renovated for the town dramatic club, the Weston Playhouse attracted the attention of director Harlan Grant, who launched the theatre’s first summer stock season in 1937, featuring a young actor named Lloyd Bridges. The Playhouse construction was followed shortly by the Vermont Country store in 1946. Since then, the community has grown to be a mostly residential one, with a handful of small businesses and, of course, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company. To learn more about the history of Weston or go on a walking tour of the historical landmarks, visit the Mill Museum and Farrar House Museum next door to the Playhouse.

Weston historical map, courtesy of Robert Brandt and Weston

Business Council

OUR WESTON PRODUCTION

Our Town is famous for its sparse props and scenery. This creates a unique and exciting challenge for the director and designers, who must bring onto the stage only what is absolutely necessary to tell the story. Take a look at how set designer Kristen Robinson imagined the world onstage with just a few objects.

Cast and Creatives

A STATEMENT FROM DIRECTOR STEVE STETTLER

In an interview with Piper Goodeve, Director of Education/Artistic Associate, Steve

spoke about why Our Town was selected for this season, and why it is meaningful to

him.

STEVE STETTLER

We had thoughts about summer

‘18 before we decided that this

would be our final season, and

then we needed to re-think it

because each of us wanted to

have at least a project that

meant a lot to us, and more

room for members of the family

who have grown up with us for

30 years to be a part of things as

much as possible. Tim came up with the idea of Our Town, partly because Our Town

and West Side Story, which are both a part of this season, were part of Tim and my

first season at Weston in 1973 and have not been done here since then. Also Our Town

was written at the McDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire in the summer of

1937, which was the first summer of the professional company at Weston, so literally

an hour away that play was being written as this company was being founded.

When Mal, Tim, and I speak about Weston, we are not speaking of the town, we

are not speaking of the theatre, we are honestly speaking about the magical mystery

that is Weston, and the full experience. Our Town really captures The special joy of

being a part of a community and of simple pleasures that are deeper than you would

realize if you just take a moment to appreciate them. While there have been a lot of

changes in the world, in Weston and Vermont, over the 45 years we have been here, I

think thankfully we haven’t lost that joy, either in the theatre or in the community. That

is part of why we can make a kind of magic here that I have seen few other places. So,

to be able to celebrate that onstage and with our community at the beginning of our

final season just feels perfect.

AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS CHRISTINE TOY JOHNSON Compiled by Rachel Liff, Artistic and Administrative Assistant

RACHEL LIFF: When did you first encounter Our Town? What did you think of it?

CHRISTINE TOY JOHNSON: I think, like a lot of young actors, I was first introduced to this play in a scene study class when I was about the same age as Emily is in Act 2. The scenes between her and George (even though set in such a different time period than the one in which we were living) were so easy to relate to on a very basic, very human level. Of course a deeper understanding of the play that comes with life lived comes later – but I think that reading Our Town when I was a teenager was one of the earliest experiences I had of theatre resonating with my yearning heart and soul in such a deep way.

RL: As an actor and a writer, how has Thornton Wilder's work affected you?

CTJ: The two pieces I know best of Thornton Wilder’s are Our Town and The Matchmaker (via my research done in playing Dolly in Hello, Dolly!). What I love most about his work is that there is an unapologetic and completely direct earnestness that exists without irony, but with depth and humanity; one which is earned within the characters’ journeys towards personal enlightenment. The themes of being present (even when that means facing your losses and disappointments head on), celebrating the life that you have, and taking second chances that lead to expanding your personal potential are all themes that I have discovered run deeply through much of my own writing, and much of my own daily goals of day-to-day living. Exploring Mr. Wilder’s perspective on these things is both inspiring and life-affirming. It’s also an encouraging reminder that writing without irony and from the heart, though sometimes not “popular” in our often cynical society, has a place and timeless value.

RL: What drew you to this character (Mrs. Webb)?

CTJ: Steve Stettler asked and I followed. What draws me to love Mrs. Webb now is her gigantic heart, which she gives so fully to her family. She is loyal and steadfast in her dedication to those she loves and keeps the engine running, no matter how much bacon and coffee it takes. A woman after my own heart.

RL: How did you prepare for this role?

CTJ: As with every role I do, I start by reading the play a few times and then asking myself a large set of questions which lead to an exploration of what makes the character tick. Is her heart full, compassionate, broken, healing? Is her head literal, intellectual, figurative, dreamy, practical? Is her will strong, intrepid, struggling, wavering? What are the polarities within herself? How might they be similar to my own? What does she express in her body language? What is her essential wound? How does she cope with it? What are her dreams, aspirations, fears? And so on. Considering that this play is set in a different century than the one we are currently living in, I also imagine how our ever-changing technology influenced the character’s daily living. In this case, the play starts with horses on cobblestone and ends with cars on the street. They are still years away from women having the right to vote, but as the play progresses they get closer to having it. How do all of these advances in technology and society affect each person in the play? Once in rehearsal, of course, there is even more to mine on a daily basis -- and with Steve’s expert direction, finding nuances in the language and specifics within our relationships to one another leads to a deepening of our understanding of the story. There is so much to explore!

RL: What about this production excites you the most?

CTJ: I am so excited about so much of it, not the least of which is: the amazing multi-cultural cast, working with old friends and new, and being a part of The Guys’ last season at the playhouse. There are so many truly fine people in this cast and creative team, and it is an honor and privilege to bring this play to life with them.

RL: Why perform Our Town today?

CTJ: We are probably in the most distracted era we’ve ever seen. And though I think social media is a byproduct of our human need for connection, ironically it separates us more from being present with the people who are actually physically standing next to us. The themes of paying attention to life as we are living it in this moment, and being mindful and appreciative of each part of it - including the painful lessons we can learn from it—couldn’t be more relevant or necessary.

Other Works by Thornton Wilder

The Skin of Our Teeth

The Matchmaker (later adapted as Hello, Dolly!)

The Trumpet Shall Sound

The Angel that Troubled the Waters and Other Plays

Novels by Thornton Wilder

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

The Eighth Day

Theophilus North

The Ides of March

Further Reading

The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Thornton Wilder edited by Edward M. Burns, Ulla

Dydo, and William Rice, Yale University Press, 1996.

The Journals of Thornton Wilder edited by Donald Gallup, Yale University Press,

1985

Thornton Wilder: A Life by Penelope Niven, HarperCollins 2012

A Home Called New England: A Celebration of Hearth and History by Duo

Dickinson and Steve Culpepper, Globe Pequot Press, 2017

Hidden History of New Hampshire by D. Quincy Whitney, Arcadia Publishing, 2008

Middletown by Will Eno, Theater Communications Group, 2010

Filmography

Our Town directed by James Naughton, 2003

Our Town directed by Sam Wood, 1940

OT: Our Town directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, 2002

Online Resources

http://www.thorntonwilder.com/

http://www.twildersociety.org/

Reading List