Download Our Town - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

Our Town
by
Thornton Wilder
Know-the-Show
Audience Guide
researched and written by
Amy Crossman, Meredith Keffer and Doug West
for the Education Department of
The Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey
Cover illustration by
Scott McKowen
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
In
This Guide
– The Life of Thornton Wilder.........................................................................................2
– Our Town: An Introduction.........................................................................................4
– Who’s Who: The Characters in Our Town....................................................................5
– A Brief Production History of Our Town......................................................................7
– Explore Online: Links.................................................................................................9
– Commentary and Criticism.......................................................................................10
– In This Production.....................................................................................................11
– Sources and Further Reading.....................................................................................12
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
of
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
The Life
Thornton Wilder
Photo of Thornton Wilder from
thorntonwilder.com
Wilder’s writing career began at Oberlin College, where he
wrote several pieces for the Oberlin Literary Magazine. His
college writing career moved with him to Yale where he
continued to have his work published, this time in the Yale
Literary Magazine.
Thornton Niven Wilder was born
on April 17th, 1897 in Madison,
Wisconsin, and was one of
five surviving children born to
Isabella Thornton Niven, and
Amos Parker Wilder, Editor of the
Wisconsin Journal. Thornton had
an older brother, Amos and three
younger sisters: Charlotte, Isabel
and Janet. Thornton himself had
an identical stillborn twin.
After graduating from Yale in 1920, Wilder travelled to Rome
and the American Academy for Classical Studies
at his
father’s insistance. While studying there
he began to work on his first novel,
The Memoirs of a Roman Student.
“He was a
After a summer in Rome, Wilder
surviving twin,
returned to the States to take a
and all of his life he
job as a French teacher at The
Lawrenceville School, a private
searched for the alter
school for boys located in
ego lost at birth.”
Lawrenceville, NJ.
In 1906, Wilder’s father, Amos,
accepted a consul post in Hong Kong and relocated the family.
Within six months, Isabella and Amos agreed to a temporary
separation and Mrs. Wilder returned to the US with her children,
settling in Berkeley, California. Between the years of 1906 and
1915 the Wilder family moved back and forth across the Pacific
Ocean, but Thornton would eventually graduate from Berkeley
High School in 1915. Wilder was forced by his father to attend
Oberlin College for two years, and then allowed to transfer to
Yale University, his father’s alma mater.
-Terry Theodore
While teaching at the Lawrenceville
School, Wilder continued to write, and
the novel he began in Rome as The Memoirs
of a Roman Student was later published as The Cabala in 1926.
While teaching in Lawrenceville and writing his first novel,
Wilder also took the opportunity to complete a Master’s Degree
in French at nearby Princeton University. After finishing his
degree, Wilder took a leave of absence from The Lawrenceville
School to complete work on his second novel, The Bridge of San
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
during WWII, Wilder’s 1942 play The Skin of Our Teeth
premiered back in the States and earned him his third Pulitzer
Prize (his second for Drama). After returning home from his
time overseas, Wilder continued to write both fiction and drama,
publishing a short “dramatic burlesque” called Our Century, and
a novel based on the final days of Julius Caesar’s reign which he
titled The Ides of March.
Luis Rey which was published in 1927 and earned Wilder his
first Pulitzer Prize. 1927 also yielded the production of Wilder’s
first play, The Trumpet Shall Sound.
In 1929, Wilder was invited to teach at The University of
Chicago by a former Oberlin classmate. While there, his
teaching schedule was structured to allow him ample time to
write, which he did at a furious pace. The Woman of Andros
(1930), The Angel That Troubled the Waters, and Other Plays
(1931), The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden (1931),
Lucrèce (an adaptation of Andre Obey’s Le Viol de Lucrece,
1932), Heaven’s My Destination (1934), as well as other short
pieces of fiction and short, one-act dramas were all published
during this time.
Thornton Wilder continued to write throughout the rest of his
life, garnering both critical praise and awards. He was given
the 1963 United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 1965
National Medal of Literature, and his 1967 novel The Eighth
Day earned a National Book Award. His final novel, the semiautobiographical Theopolis North was published in 1973 and
two years later, on December 7, 1975, Thornton Niven Wilder
died in his sleep. Mr. Wilder never married and was extremely
guarded about his personal life and relationships. He was
survived by his younger sister, Isabel, who had acted as his
secretary and confidant for most of his professional career.
In 1936, Wilder retired from teaching and devoted himself to
traveling and writing full time. In 1937 he completed a play
called The Merchant of Yonkers, which would later be rewritten
as The Matchmaker in 1954 and ultimately adapted into the
musical Hello, Dolly! which premiered on Broadway in 1964.
In 1937, he began work on a more serious play. Originally
titled Our Village, Thornton Wilder published Our Town in 1938.
While it was not an instant critical success, Our Town was an
automatic hit with audiences and eventually led to his second
Pulitzer Prize (his first for Drama).
While serving his country as a member of the Army Air Corps
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
Our
Town
An Introduction
In the third act we are led to the cemetery on the hill, where
many of the townspeople we have come to know so well are
patiently and smilingly awaiting not “judgment” but greater
understanding. Into their midst is led the bride, a little timid
at first, a little wishful to go back to life, to live again with her
memories. But she is shown how impossible, how futile it is
to return. The past cannot be re-lived. Living people, humans,
occupied with their petty occupations and small thoughts, know
little of true joy or happiness. Truth is to be found only in the
future.
Originally titled Our Village, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town is
arguably his most popular work. First published and produced
in 1938, Our Town was awarded the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for
Drama. Wilder himself offered readers what he called the “Story
of the Play” as a preface to the script itself:
Thornton Wilder as
The Stage Manager
in a production of
Our Town, a role
he played many
times throughout
his life.
The Story of the Play
In the first act the author genially outlines the history of the
town, Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, and something of the
character of its citizens. Then he carries you into the houses
of the Gibbs and Webb families, substantial homes containing
substantial folks. You arrive at breakfast and are carried through
one day in the lives of these good people.
The second act concerns the love affair between young George
Gibbs and little Emily Webb, and thus culminates in a moving
wedding scene, which contains all those elements of poignant
sorrow and abundant happiness that make for solemnity and
impressiveness.
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Photo from the Beineke Libraray collection.
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
Who’sInWho
the Play
Stage Manager – An omnipresent narrator who serves as our
guide to Grover’s Corners and throughout the play. He
moves seamlessly back and forth between our world in the
theatre, and the world of the play.
The Webbs
Charles Webb – The patriarch of the Webb family, Mr. Webb is the editor of the town paper, The Grover’s Corners Sentinel.
Not originally from Grover’s Corners, he settled
there after attending Hamilton College in
Upstate New York.
Martha Scott,
the actress who
Myrtle Webb – The wife of Editor
originated the role
Webb, born and raised in Grover’s
of Emily Webb in the
1938 stage production,
Corners, Mrs. Webb was, by her own
also played her in the
admission, “the prettiest girl in town,
1940 film adaptation.
next to Maime Cartwright.” Mother to
Emily and Wally, she also sings in the
Congregational Church Choir.
Emily Webb – Arguably the central character
of the story, Emily is the oldest of the Webb children, and we
see her progress from a well spoken teenager in the first act,
to a wife and mother in the third.
Wally Webb – Emily’s younger brother, he spends his time
studying Canada and not eating his bacon.
Costume renderings by Candida Nichols
for the 2013 production of Our Town.
The Gibbs
Frank Gibbs – The patriarch of the Gibbs family, ‘Doc’ Gibbs is
the town doctor and the local expert on the Civil War. He
was born and raised in Grover’s Corners.
Julia (Hersey) Gibbs – From one of the oldest families in
Grover’s Corners, Mrs. Gibbs is wife to Frank and mother
to George and Rebecca. She sings in the church choir with
Mrs. Webb.
George Gibbs – The eldest of the Gibbs children, we see George
grow from a boy with dreams of baseball to a man with
dreams of a family farm.
Rebecca Gibbs – George’s young sister, she hates gingham
dresses, especially blue ones.
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
Who’sInWho
the Play
Joe Crowell – The oldest of the Crowell boys, he delivers The
Grover’s Corners Sentinel to all of its subscribers.
Si Crowell – The younger brother of Joe, Si becomes the town
paperboy in his brother’s absence.
Simon Stimson – The choirmaster for The Congregational Church
Choir, Simon is one of the town’s troubled souls. He is
intoxicated more often than not.
Howie Newsome – The local milkman, Howie and his horse
Bessie make the rounds delivering milk and cream every day.
Professor Willard – A long-winded professor from the local State
University.
Mrs. Louella Soames – The town gossip, Mrs. Soames sings in
the choir with Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs.
Constable Bill Warren – The town’s only law enforcement
officer.
Joe Stoddard – The town undertaker.
Sam Craig – A cousin of Mrs. Gibbs who leaves Grover’s Corners
in search of fortune.
Costume renderings by Candida Nichols
for the 2013 production of Our Town.
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
A
the Stage Manager was being paid a larger percentage than
Jed Harris, the director and producer. Mr. Harris travelled to
Chicago to ask Frank Craven to accept a lower percentage of
the show’s revenues, making Mr. Harris the top earner on the
payroll. When Mr. Craven refused to alter his contract, Harris
immediately cancelled the rest of tour without explanation.
History of Our Town
The first ever performance of Our Town was presented at The
McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey on Saturday, January
Since the original production in 1938, Our Town has been
22, 1938. Princeton was the first stop
revived on Broadway four times (1944,
on a pre-Broadway tour and Boston’s
1969, 1988 and 2002). The 1944
Wilbur Theatre on January 25th was
production featured Martha Scott,
the second. Our Town’s Broadway
reprising her role as Emily Webb. In
debut was on February 4th, 1938 at
1969, Henry Fonda played the Stage
Henry Miller’s Theatre. It featured a
Manager, now considered a “bucketcast of nearly fifty actors including the
list” role for many actors. The 1988
father and son team of Frank and John
production won the Tony award for Best
Craven who played the Stage Manager
Revival and featured future stars Eric
and George Gibbs, respectively. The
Stolz (George Gibbs), William H. Macy
show ran from February 4, 1938
(Howie Newsome), as well as humorist
through November 11, 1938 for a
and author Spalding Grey (Stage
total of 336 performances. Following
Manager). The most recent Broadway
its successful Broadway run, Our
revival in 2002 starred Paul Newman as
Town was scheduled for a year-long,
the Stage Manager in his final Broadway
Thornton Wilder as The Stage Manager, Ellen Weston
nation-wide tour. Unfortunately, the
appearance.
as Emily, and long-time Shakespeare Theatre of New
Jersey
company
member
Robert
Hock
from
the
1959
tour was halted in Chicago only a few
Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Our Town.
months into the tour due to a contract
PHOTO: WTF Archive
dispute. Frank Craven, the actor playing
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
A
History of Our Town
In addition to the four Broadway revivals since its original
production in 1938, Our Town has enjoyed a tremendous life
beyond the Great White Way. The play was initially licensed for
amateur and stock productions on April 19, 1939. By December
31, 1940 the play had been licensed no fewer than 795 times.
In those initial months, the play was presented in every state in
the Union except Rhode Island! Since then it has remained a
staple for amateur and professional theatre companies alike. It
has been asserted that there is at least one performance of Our
Town somewhere in the United States each night.*
2013 marks the 75th Anniversary of this beloved American
classic.
(Right) A copy of the original Playbill for the 1938 performance
of Our Town at The McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ.
(Left) A copy of an advertising poster from the Broadway
Production later that same year.
From Tappan Wilder’s Afterword in the 2003 printing of Our Town.
*
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
Explore Online
The Official Website of The Thornton Wilder Family
www.thorntonwilder.com
The Official Website of the Thornton Wilder Society
www.thorntonwildersociety.org
A Link to the PBS “Masterpiece Theatre” Our Town archive
www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/ourtown/
essays.html
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
&
Commentary
Criticism
“It is no wonder, then, that his best-known and most successful
original play, Our Town (1938), has been termed a “New
England allegory,” “a beautiful evocative play,” “a tender idyll,”
“a hauntingly beautiful play,” and “less the portrait of a town
than the sublimation of the commonplace.”
– Irma Honaker Herron, from The Small Town in American Drama, 1969
On The Playwright: “Wilder revolutionized modern stage
presentation by experimenting with a sceneless stage, imaginary
props, flexible jumps in time sequence, pantomime and a stage
manager as a character.”
– Thomas Siebold from Readings on Our Town, 2000
On the Stage Manager: “The Stage Manager is not merely an easy
means to exposition, to setting the scene in Grover’s Corners.
He is the principal means to the double vision, the intermeshing
of past and present, which permeates the whole play...Although
the Stage Manager knows Grover’s Corners well, he exists in our
time.”
– Barnard Hewitt, 1959
On the Play: “Our Town has a theatrical quality that distinguishes
it from [other plays of its time]. Wilder uses no scenery and
no act-curtain. The play begins with an announcement by the
Stage Manager that is calculated to draw attention to the bare
stage and to insist on the audience’s consciousness of its role as
spectator.”
– Thomas E. Porter from Myth and Modern Drama, 1969
On original reviews: “Our Town did indeed receive mixed
reviews. Negative comments focused on whether it was
‘dramatic’ enough to be called a play or merely what Robert
Benchley in The New Yorker saw as ‘so much ersatz’... and
George Jean Nathan later called it ‘a stunt.’ But where it really
mattered, the play’s staging, acting, directing, and themes evoked
powerful adjectives and praise. It was ‘beautiful,’ ‘touching,’
‘one of the great plays of our day,’ ‘magnificant.’ Robert Colman
in The Mirror pulled out all the stops, proclaiming it ‘worthy of
an honored place in any anthology of the American drama.’”
– Tappan Wilder from the Afterword of the 2003 printing of Our Town, 2003
“Taking as his material three periods in the history of a placid
New Hampshire town, Mr. Wilder has transmuted the simple
events of human life into universal reverie. He has given familiar
facts a deeply moving, philosophical perspective...Our Town is
one of the finest achievements of the current stage.”
– Brooks Atkinson, 1938
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
In
This Production
Above: Costume designs for Emily and Doc Gibbs (left) and
George Gibbs (right) by Costume Designer, Candida Nichols.
Right: A photo of the set model and an early sketch of the Our Town
set by Scenic Designer, Charlie Calvert.
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Our Town: Know-the-Show Guide
&
Sources
Further Reading
By Thornton Wilder:
Plays:
The Trumpet Shall Sound (1919)
The Angel That Troubled The Waters and Other Plays (1928)
The Long Christmas Dinner, The Happy Journey to Trenton and
Camden, Pullman Car Hiawatha, Queens of France, Love and
How to Cure It, Such Things Only Happen in Books (1931)
Lucrèce (Translation/Adaptation 1932)
A Doll’s House (Translation/Adaptation 1937)
Our Town (1938) Pulitzer Prize Winner
The Merchant of Yonkers (1939)
The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) Pulitzer Prize Winner
The Matchmaker (1954)
A Life in the Sun (1955)
The Drunken Sisters (1957)
Three Plays (1957)
Plays for Bleecker Street (1962)
The Alcestiad (1977, published posthumously)
On Thornton Wilder:
Hewitt, Barnard. “Thornton Wilder Says ‘Yes’”, The Tulane Drama
Review 4.2 (1959): 110-20. Print.
Herron, Ima Honaker. The Small Town In American Drama.
Dallas: Southern Methodist UP, 1969. Print.
Kuner, M. C. Thornton Wilder: The Bright and the Dark. New
York: Crowell, 1972. Print.
Porter, Thomas. Myth and Modern American Drama. Detroit:
Wayne State Univ Pr, 1969. Print.
Siebold, Thomas. Readings on Our Town. San Diego, CA:
Greenhaven, 2000. Print.
Simon, Linda. “Thornton Wilder.” Critical Survey of Long Fiction.
Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2010. N. pag. Print.
Theodore, Terry. “Thornton Wilder.” Magill’s Survey of American
Literature. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2007. N. pag. Print.
Wilder, Tappan. Afterword. Our Town: A Play in Three Acts. New
York: Perennial, 2003. N. pag. Print.
Wilder, Thornton. Preface. Our Town: A Play in Three Acts.
London: Samuel French, 1965. N. pag. Print.
Novels:
The Cabala (1926)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) Pulitzer Prize Winner
The Woman of Andros (1930)
Heaven’s My Destination (1934)
The Ides of March (1948)
The Eighth Day (1967) National Book Award Winner
Theophilus North (1973)
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