M-A’s fall play Our Town opens this Friday, Nov. 15, and runs for two weekends. The play follows the lives of Emily Webb (junior Kealy Bryman) and George Gibbs (sophomore Hudson Brazeal) in Grover’s Corners, a fictional small New Hampshire town.
Written by Thornton Wilder, the play was first produced on Broadway in 1938 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The show is widely regarded as a classic American play and is currently on Broadway in its fifth revival.
The play has a minimalistic set and focuses on the rituals of daily life in a small and uneventful town. However, detailed character interactions bring the seemingly mundane into full color, highlighting the play’s main theme: appreciating the little things in life.
“The play is about the nuances of everyday life and how simple conversations you have with your parents, family, or friends can have deeper meanings once you reflect on them,” Brazeal said.
Act I opens with the town’s daily routine, set when Emily and George are in high school. In addition to showing the two’s burgeoning friendship, this act introduces other town members, including the constable (senior Isabel Matta), the milkman (sophomore Po Budagova), and the newsboy (sophomore Julian Way). The play then jumps three years into Act II, which begins on Emily and George’s wedding morning. Finally, Act III opens after 9 years have passed, concluding the play with an intermingling of the living and the dead.
“Everyone knows each other, so the play itself has very small-town life vibes,” Bryman said.
This includes the audience. The audience will be seated on stage, surrounding the actors on three sides. “That helps bring that closeness and makes the audience feel as though they’re a part of the town,” Bryman said.
Meta-theatrical devices help further blur the boundaries between the audience and the town. The play itself is narrated by the character of the Stage Manager (senior Ben Siegel), who interacts directly with both the characters and the audience throughout the show.
Both of the play’s leads feel a close connection to their characters. “Emily is very, very smart, and she likes to make that known,” Bryman said. “She’s definitely a perfectionist, which I can relate to.”
“George is not an academic wizard, but he’s one of the best baseball players on the team, and he’s really more of a social guy than anything else,” Brazael said. “I actually played baseball up until ninth grade, and I think me and George are kind of on the same level.”
Getting to know their characters, however, has been a long journey and not always an easy one. “One thing that’s been difficult is there are no physical props and everything’s pantomimed,” Bryman said.
Though the rehearsal process has been difficult, it has also been enjoyable and fulfilling.
“My favorite part of working on this play is seeing the world develop as we learn the lines and get into character,” Way said.
“I like the old-fashioned costumes,” Brazeal said. “It’s really life-like, and you get to see how it was at the turn of the century.” This early 1900s fashion includes long dresses filled out with petticoats and blouses with full skirts or button-down shirts with slacks and suspenders.
“I’ve found myself not too stressed with this show because I feel so at peace in Grover’s Corners,” Bryman said. “This is kind of an escape from reality. I’ve just been enjoying living in Grover’s Corners for the past month.”
Our Town opens Friday, Nov. 15., and there are six opportunities to see it. You can buy tickets here at $12 for students and seniors and $17.25 for adults.
