Our Town


Our Town is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens.
Wilder uses metatheatrical devices, setting the play in the actual theatre where it is being performed. The main character is the stage manager of the theatre who directly addresses the audience, brings in guest lecturers, fields questions from the audience, and fills in playing some of the roles. The play is performed without a set on a mostly bare stage. With a few exceptions, the actors mime actions without the use of props.
The first performance of Our Town was at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 22, 1938. It went on to success on Broadway and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and remains popular today with frequent revivals.

Synopsis

Act I: Daily Life

The Stage Manager introduces the audience to the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, its geography and main buildings and institutions, as well as the people living there, as morning breaks on May 7, 1901. Joe Crowell delivers the paper to Doc Gibbs, Howie Newsome delivers the milk, and the Webb and Gibbs households send their children off to school on a beautifully simple morning.
The Stage Manager introduces Professor Willard, who speaks to the audience about the history of the town. Next, Editor Webb speaks to the audience about the town's socioeconomic status, political and religious demographics, and the accessibility and proliferation of culture and art in Grover's Corners. The Stage Manager then leads the audience through a series of pivotal moments throughout the afternoon and evening, revealing the characters' relationships and challenges.
It is at this time when we are introduced to Simon Stimson, an organist and choir director at the Congregational Church. It is learned from Mrs. Louella Soames that Simon Stimson is an alcoholic when she, Mrs. Gibbs, and Mrs. Webb stop on the corner after choir practice and "gossip like a bunch of old hens," according to Doc Gibbs, discussing Simon's alcoholism. It seems to be a well known fact amongst everyone in town that Simon Stimson has a problem with alcohol; all the characters speak of his issue as if they are aware of it and his having "seen a peck of trouble," a phrase repeated by more than one character throughout the show. While the majority of townsfolk choose to "look the other way," including the town policeman, Constable Warren, it is Mrs. Gibbs who takes Simon's struggles with addiction to heart, and has a conversation with her husband, Doc Gibbs, about Simon's drinking.
Underneath a glowing full moon, Act I ends with siblings George and Rebecca, and Emily gazing out of their respective bedroom windows, enjoying the smell of heliotrope in the "wonderful moonlight," with the self-discovery of Emily and George liking each other, and the realization that they are both straining to grow up in their own way.
The audience is dismissed to the first intermission by the Stage Manager who quips, "That's the end of the First Act, friends. You can go and smoke now, those that smoke."

Act II: Love and Marriage

The Stage Manager sets the scene by explaining three years have passed, and describing the many changes that can take place when "the sun's come up over a thousand times." The Stage Manager notes the themes of Acts I and II - daily life, then marriage - and adds with portent, "There's another act coming after this: I reckon you can guess what that's about."
George and Emily prepare to wed. The day is filled with stress. Howie Newsome is delivering milk in the pouring rain while Si Crowell, younger brother of Joe, laments how George's baseball talents will be squandered. George pays an impulsive and awkward visit to his soon-to-be in-laws.
Here, the Stage Manager interrupts the scene and takes the audience back a year, to the end of Emily and George's junior year. Emily confronts George about his pride, and over an ice cream soda, they discuss the future and confess their love for each other. George decides not to go to college, as he had planned, but to work and eventually take over his uncle's farm.
Back in the present, George and Emily say that they are not ready to marry—George to his mother, Emily to her father—but they both calm down and happily go through with the wedding. The Stage Manager, as officiant of the wedding, delivers a monologue on the institution of marriage: "people were made to live two by two" - but concludes, "I've married over two hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I don't know."
Nonetheless, the wedding completes and George and Emily leave, ending Act II, as Mrs. Soames exclaims, "I'm sure they'll be happy. I always say: happiness, that's the great thing! The important thing is to be happy."

Act III: Death and Eternity

Nine years have passed. In a lengthy monologue, the Stage Manager discusses eternity, focusing attention on the cemetery outside of town, which dates to the 1670s, including people who have died since the wedding - Mrs. Gibbs, Wally Webb, Mrs. Soames, and Simon Stimson. The Stage Manager posits "the dead don't stay interested in us living people for very long... gradually they lose hold of the earth... They're waitin'. They're waitin' for something that they feel is comin'. Something important, and great."
Town undertaker Joe Stoddard is introduced, as is a young man named Sam Craig, who has returned to Grover's Corners for his cousin's funeral. That cousin is revealed to be Emily, who died giving birth to her and George's second child.
Once the funeral ends Emily emerges to join the dead and, after observing the grief of George and Dr. Gibbs, asks Mrs. Gibbs if it is possible to temporarily return. Mrs. Gibbs urges her to forget her life, warning her that being able to see but not interact with her family, all the while knowing what will happen in the future, will cause her too much pain. Ignoring the warnings of Simon, Mrs. Soames, and Mrs. Gibbs, Emily persuades the Stage Manager to return her to Earth to relive one day, her 12th birthday.
She joyfully watches her parents and some of the people of her childhood for the first time in years, but her happiness quickly turns to pain as she realizes how little people appreciate the simple activities of life. The recognition proves too painful for her and she realizes that every moment of life should be treasured.
Emily asks the Stage Manager to return her to the dead, then hesitates and in a final monologue says goodbye to mortal life. She asks the Stage Manager if anyone truly understands the value of life while they live it; he responds, "No. The saints and poets, maybe – they do some."
Emily returns to her grave next to Mrs. Gibbs and watches impassively as George kneels weeping over her. The Stage Manager concludes the play and wishes the audience a good night.

Characters

Primary characters

  • Stage Manager – The narrator and commentator, who guides the audience through Grover's Corners. He periodically participates in the play and advises Emily directly after her death.
  • Emily Webb – The protagonist, who we follow from a precocious young girl through to her wedding to George Gibbs and death in child birth.
  • George Gibbs – The other main character; the boy next door, a kind but irresponsible teenager who matures over time and becomes a responsible husband, father, and farmer.
  • Frank Gibbs – George's father, the town Doctor.
  • Julia Gibbs –George's mother, who dreams of going to Paris. She sells an antique piece of furniture for $350, intending to use it for the trip, but instead bequeathes the money to George and Emily. Julia dies while visiting her daughter in Ohio.
  • Charles Webb – Editor of the Grover's Corners Sentinel and father of Emily and Wally.
  • Myrtle Webb – mother of Emily and Wally.

    Secondary characters

  • Joe and Si Crowell – Local paperboys. Joe's intelligence earns him a full scholarship to MIT where he graduates at the top of his class. His promise will be cut short on the fields of France during World War I, according to the Stage Manager. Both he and his brother Si hold marriage in high disdain.
  • Simon Stimson – The choir director and church organist. We never learn the specific cause of his alcoholism and suicide, although Joe Stoddard, the undertaker, observes that "He's seen a peck of troubles." He remains bitter and cynical even beyond the grave. Some critics interpret Simon as a closeted homosexual.
  • Howie Newsome – The milkman, a fixture of Grover's Corners.
  • Rebecca Gibbs – George's younger sister. Later elopes with a traveling salesman and settles in Ohio.
  • Wallace "Wally" Webb – Emily's younger brother. Died of a burst appendix on a Boy Scout camping trip.
  • Professor Willard – A rather long-winded lecturer.
  • Woman in the Balcony – Attendee of Editor Webb's political and social report – concerned with temperance.
  • Belligerent Man at Back of Auditorium – Attendee of Editor Webb's political and social report – concerned with social justice.
  • Lady in a Box – Attendee of Editor Webb's political and social report – concerned with culture and beauty.
  • Mrs. Louella Soames – A gossipy townswoman and member of the choir.
  • Constable Bill Warren – The policeman.
  • Three Baseball Players – Who mock George at the wedding.
  • Joe Stoddard – The undertaker.
  • Sam Craig – A nephew of Mrs Gibbs who left town to seek his fortune. He came back after 12 years in Buffalo for Emily's funeral.
  • Man from among the Dead
  • Woman from among the Dead
  • Mr. Carter
  • Farmer McCarty
  • Bessie – Howie Newsome's horse, visible to the characters, but not the audience.