A Review of Thornton Wilder's 'Play Our Town'

In Act I of Our Town, Wilder talks about the daily life of the people who live in Grover’s Corners. The people of Grover’s Corners just live their lives like a cycle. They do their daily routines and don’t really pay attention to who is going on around them. At the time of doing their routines they don’t notice how some of the little things make a big difference and don’t appreciate what is going on around them. In the play Our Town, George and Rebecca are talking to each other while looking out at the stars in the night sky. Rebecca was telling George about the letter Jane Crofut received and how the envelope was addressed. It said “Jane Crofut, The Crofut Farm, Grover’s Corners, Sutton County, New Hampshire, United States of

Our Town is a story on how humans does not fully appreciate life until they die and realize what they did and want to go back and change it. Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town is about a town life in three acts. The three acts are as followed. Daily Life, Companionship, and Death.It shows how people live and die and how they regret things they did on earth and come to see the big picture of life. Wilder argues, because life is short we must appreciate the joys of living until we die.

Wilder created the Stage Manager for various of reasons. The stage Manager is unique in that his presence fills every scene, whether he is the one speaking to the audience or playing a character in the play. The Stage Manager provides background information and familiarizes the audience with Grover’s Corners and the characters. The Stage Manager is aware that the audience are present and breaks down the “fourth wall” to speak to the audience directly, ignoring the confines of the stage. “The Stage Manager wants the audience to really be there with the characters and wants us to listen and look at him” (Millman).

The movie Our Town was a 1938 American three-act play directed by Thornton Wilder. The movie tells the story about a fictional American town known as Grover’s Corners between 1901 and 1913. Throughout the mover, the director uses meta-theatrical tools to set the play in the theatres where such play was being conducted. The main character in this film is the stage manager who addresses the audience directly. The stage manager also brings in guest lecturers into the play by fielding questions from the viewers as well as filling some of the roles (TheConnection np). The major differences between this play and others are that the actors perform without a proper set and the acting is done without props.

life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

In a time and place where people had no worry of locking their doors, or leaving their possessions unattended, the citizens of Grover’s Corners always possessed a sense of safety and protection. This small town life is set in the play Our Town, by Thornton Wilder. The modest New Hampshire town rarely procured any disturbances or quarrels, resulting in a quiet and tidy place to live. In many ways, the town of Grover’s Corner may be comparable to the petite city of Colby, Kansas. However, the twin towns contain only a few contrasting traits. Considering daily living, love and marriage, and the fragility of life itself, these communities share an abundance of similar characteristics, while only containing a few differences.

Our Town is a play that takes place near the turn of the century in the small rural town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. The playwright, Thornton Wilder is trying to convey the importance of the little, often unnoticed things in life. Throughout the first two acts he builds a scenario, which allows the third act to show that we as humans often run through life oblivious to what is actually happening. Wilder attempts to show life as something that we take for granted. We do not realize the true value of living until we are dead and gone. The through-line of the action seems to be attention to the details of life. Wilder builds up a plot that pays attention to great details of living.

I think that we would all like to believe that our lives are pre-planned: that some higher power has bestowed upon each of us a great destiny. In Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey five people die when the bridge collapses. Wilder’s novel indirectly explores the question of fate versus a higher power through the lives of those that died on the bridge. I believe that each person who died on the bridge that day had made a series of decisions that lead them to that moment. After reading The Bridge of San Luis Rey, I believe that our fate is random and that every decision we make can have the power to change our destiny.

“But afterward the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and over again—those somber explosions that stimulated fires of mistrust in the glare of which many old neighbors viewed each other strangely, and as strangers.”

The Stage Manager maintains a somber tone throughout the play that deeply contrasts with the joy perpetually exuded by the other characters. Wilder emphasizes this contrast particularly during the wedding, in which the Stage Manager offsets the “radiant” atmosphere and digresses: “The cottage, the go-cart, the Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, The first rheumatism, the grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading of the will.” In this passage the Stage Manager describes life as a list of events, thereby expressing his apathy for it. Wilder, therefore, conveys the consequences of recognizing life’s finality. The finality of existence consumes the Stage Manager and causes him to disengage from his surroundings which prevents him from seeing the meaning and importance in a particular moment. His aversion to life is evident when he states, “Once in a thousand times it's interesting.” The Stage Manager merely views life as transient, and despite having the capacity to appreciate it, he is unable to because he only sees value in things that have longevity. Hence, why he is so adamant about putting a copy of the play in the time capsule he mentions because it will be preserved and “the people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about

Our Town, written by Thornton Wilder, is one of the most performed plays in America. In this play, a number of characters with different roles and traits appear, and the roles range from doctor, student, undertaker, and housewife to a newspaper editor. The background of this play is a small one-stop town in New Hampshire, just across the Massachusetts line, and its name is Grover’s Corners. The main character I would like to focus on throughout this writing is Mrs. Gibbs, who is the mother of George Gibbs and Rebbeca Gibbs, and the wife of Dr. Gibbs. Even though she is nothing more than a common housewife, the role Mrs. Gibbs plays seems quite vital in this play. Her role is

Our Town is different from most plays. It starts with barely any scenery, forcing the viewer to use their imagination. In the beginning the set manager comes on stage and describes the scene while also making sure that everything is under control; he plays an oversoul or God-like figure. Act I describes birth. The play commences before dawn and the first call Dr. Gibbs receives that morning is for the

Despite the fact that the theme of insiders and outsiders is a commonality worldwide, most people do not think about it enough and how affects so many different communities. In order to obtain balance, there should be both insiders and outsiders. The insiders are there to support the greater public opinion while the outsiders are there to question the rules and laws which helps maintain diversity. Lastly, standards and overall trends greatly regulate what is normal and what is not. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, although the Puritan town of Salem is supposed to be a united community under God, the strict societal norms and harsh expectations creates a major division between insiders and outsiders which ultimately forces many accepted members to become shut out as the culture progressively develops further from normality.

In Our Town, the Stage Manager differs from other characters because he directly instructs the audience in judging the ongoing events, breaking the fourth wall as an omniscient character, unlike Choragos from Antigone, who has limited ability in the play. Similar to Choragos, the Stage Manager helps the audience to examine the relationship and actions that goes on in the play, making him to stand out from the other characters. However, unlike Choragos who could only assist the characters in the play, the Stage Manager exists outside of time, not only he does not have restriction in the play, he also has the ability to show the audience scenes he wants to show. For example, when Emily and Mrs. Webb have a conversation, the Stage Manager cuts

In Our Town, there are many themes that are present in the play. There are many instances where the reader or audience can say that while writing the play that Thornton Wilder had in mind that the play was going to support the feminist movement, or the how the play can be used to show how ridiculous the marxist theory is, or it can also say that Wilder intended Our Town to be used to support the mythological theory, both the archetypal characters, in the town drunk, Simon Stimson, and George and Emily, and archetypal images, such as his references Mrs. Webb’s and Mrs. Gibbs’ gardens, and how he continued to reference how the moon looks and its position throughout the play. Thornton Wilder can be said to support the feminist movement because