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Essay about Our Town
Our Town
"Our Town", by Thornton Wilder, written in 1938, was first performed at the McCarter theatre, New Jersey, on the 22nd of January1938.
It is an example of meta theatre, and chronicles the lives of ordinary, everyday people, during their ordinary, everyday lives. The story is based in
Grover's Corners, a small town in New Hampshire, set at the turn of the century.
The play involves three main acts, each focussed upon a different aspect of life.
Set in 1901, the first act simply discusses the passing of an uneventful day in the town. We are exposed to all the characters, particularly two teenage
characters, Emily Webb, and George Gibbs.
The second act focuses upon 'love and marriage', and takes place in 1904, the...show more content...
The staging of the play would once again be taken from Wilder's original concept. The set would be bare of extravagant props and detail, only small,
essential props being used. This would highlight the need of the audience to perceive the value in small things. The staging actually provides a channel
for understanding for the audience. A bare stage, but for tables, chairs, of each of the families would allow the audience to develop their own mental
set. The stage being merely a blank set with a few tables respects Wilder's third fundamental condition for theatre, that theatre is "a world of
pretense".
As the play is based on a "world of pretense", there is no need for concentration upon sets and costumes, the characters and narrative create
the simple reality instead.
The play is continuously interrupted by the Stage Manager, providing background information, and commentary, this reminds us that we are watching a
play. Since the audience is constantly reminded of the play, any attempts to imitate a real life situation, by set are futile. As Wilder requested there
would be no backstage curtain, a literal bare stage.
The most important aspect of "Our Town" is the way the characters are portrayed, and perceived. To be effective, the characters need to
display emotions, and demonstrate their characters in an almost generic manner, each displaying their "type" of person.
Wilder's second
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Our Town
The Life of Love and Choices
I. Thesis Statement
In Our Town, the play emphasizes quantities of life, which leads to appreciating everyday occurrences we go through.
II. Overview
1. The name of the play is called, Our Town
2. The author is Thornton Wilder
3. SFSU Department of Theatre Arts
4. Little Theatre
5. Watched the play on March 17th, at 2:00pm
6. Ticket price cost $12.00, purchased through online website
7. Sat in Row D, Seat 2. Front right section of theatre
8. Shared experience with a classmate, both agreed it was a great play that involved the quality of life.
III. Plot
The play, Our Town, is defined as a "playwright", which involved physical action and representing the externals of human behavior. The play in general
...show more content...
Using certain shapes of materials and color helped the audience understand the scenery of the play, being able to understand what time period this
took place. The lighting through the play was great, being able to clearly see in detail for each scene. For example, when the Stage manager
introduces the people in Grover's Corner, is was clear and easy to see what type of life style they live. Grisel Torres did an excellent job with the
angles, colors, and shadows throughout the play, really emphasizing the emotion and lighting for each scene. Allison Mortimer, the costume designer,
did a good job figuring out what each character should wear and allowing the audience to decide which class each character fits in society. The
costumes looked like they were somewhat middle class and even looked vintage at times. I wasn't sure if they were recreated or not. Changing
costumes for different scenes made it easier to understand the aspect of the scene and allowing the audience to understand what will happen.
IX. Convention
The Stage Manager, which is known to the narrator, also shows up in many different scenes as a character. For example, he comes into a scene as
Mr. Morgan the drugstore owner who serves ice cream to Emily and George. The play had a lot of objects that were not presently there, the characters
did their best trying to symbolize what it would be like using those objects. An example,
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Our Town Theme Essay
Throughout Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, resistance to change is a popular, repeated theme; this theme is easily seen when George and Emily
walk home from school together and stop at the drugstore for ice cream sodas. Emily's caution as to not upset George when confronting him about
changing and Mr. Morgan's negative comments about the changes going on in town and about the passage of time making matters worse, show the
seriousness that townspeople of Grover's Corners take any amount of change. As soon as Emily starts talking, readers can tell that she is choosing
her words very carefully. "I'm sorry if it hurt your feelings...but I can't be sorry I said it" (65), Emily tells George right after her speech, and Wilder
uses an ellipsis to indicate Emily pausing in order to think of how to best phrase what she wants to say. She does not want to hurt George's feelings
by accusing him of changing, because change is not regarded as a good thing in Grover's Corners, this also brings to light that Emily must care for
George in some...show more content...
Mr. Morgan stands so opposed times changing that according to him traffic, "gets worse every year" (67). He could have said many things instead
of saying that the traffic "gets worse", he could have said that it just gets busier or more dangerous. It seems like the changes have occured for a
while now too because the change "gets worse every year" so some change must have already occurred. Mr. Morgan sees the recent changes as
negative, compared to the past because he often times brings up how things are "these days" (67), versus how they were before things started
changing. To anyone outside of the town, these changes would be seen more positively. Cars becoming more popular would mean faster travel and
easier transportation of goods, but because that would be different that how things used to be, the people of Grover's Corners are not
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Our Town Analysis Essay
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.
In the first act when Mrs. Gibbs and...show more content...
The play makes you think, whether for a split moment or a long time, about the idea of being aware while going about even the most menial of tasks.
While at the funeral, the living members of the cast all have umbrellas above their heads. The dead members sit in chairs imitating graves, and are
rained upon. The symbolism represented by the umbrellas could be that the living are sheltered from the light of reality and importance. Only when
you are dead do you notice that there was more to it, and the umbrella that you held while it was raining is taken away, allowing you to be opened up
to a whole new light of realization.
In the scene just before the wedding, George tries to see his bride–to–be. The Webb’s explain to him the superstition behind not allowing
the groom to see his bride until she walks down the isle. The action of this scene is anxiety. George wants to see Emily before the big event and is
expressing a great desire to do so. The parents are intent on not allowing George to see their daughter. Mrs. Webb is also understandably worried
about loosing a daughter to marriage. Emily is upstairs having reservations about the whole ordeal. Mr. Webb brings the two of them together before
the wedding, breaking the superstition, and explains to them that they were meant to be together. He has George tell his bride that he will do the best
he can to take
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Our Town
Aristotelian and Modern Elements of Tragedy in Our Town In the story of Our Town by Thornton Wilder the protagonist Emily Webb lives the
most ordinary type of life known to man. She born and raised in the consistent monotonous town of Grover's Corner. Emily married her neighbor,
George Gibbs, has children, than in inevitably passes away. In the play Emily never takes a single moment to look around and appreciate the life
she and is always in a never ending rush to complete the next necessary milestone in her life. Once she has passed away Emily's tragic flaw is
apparent to her and she full heartedly regrets never taking time to treasure the precious life she had. In the essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" by
Arthur Miller the definition of a literary tragedy is redefined for the modern era. Emily Webb's character and...show more content...
In Aristotelian tragedy the tragic hero is always someone of elevated status within society, whether it's a king, queen or even a powerful politician.
However on Miller's modern day definition of a tragedy, the tragic hero is more commonly an average individual who is not a higher powerin
society by any means. Miller states "I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were"(Miller part.
2). In Our Town Emily Webb can be considered "common" in every sense possible. Grovers Corner is exspenstionaly ordinary. In act one when Mr.
Webb is asked about the town, he describes it as " Very, ordinary town, if you ask me. Little better behaved than most. Probably a lot duller"(Wilder
24). In this quote Mr. Webb proves that Grover's Corner and the people living in it are average. Also that the people tend to get
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Literary Analysis : Our Town By Thornton Wilder
Our Town: Literary Analysis Essay Storytelling is a tradition that has been part of the human race for millennia. Throughout the years, humans have
told the next generation stories about what their predecessors had done before them, whether it be big events like international wars, or little events
like one's family history. The act of retelling history is often categorized as something done in order for those in the younger generations to learn from
their ancestors' mistakes. However, the author of the play Our Town, Thornton Wilder, challenges this notion. Wilder's play is a flashback to the small
town of Grover's Corners in 1901. It tells the story of the residents in Grover's Corners, an average small town, and narrates...show more content...
This is significant, because it is in this part that Wilder begins to first retell history. The fact that Wilder chooses the history of the average suburban
town of Grover's Corners to retell is also important, because it shows Wilder deemed the history of the people in a typical town like Grover's Corners
worthy of retelling, even though nothing that usually is described as eventful happens there.
In Act II, titled "Love and Marriage," the characters Emily Gibbs and George Webb are getting married. Before the wedding, the Stage Manager
pauses the play to flashback to where it all began, by saying, "I have to interrupt again here. You see, we want to know how all this began... I'm
awfully interested in how big things like that begin" (Wilder 62). In this part of the play, Wilder shows how it is important to look to the past to
fully appreciate the present, and uses the Stage Manager as a vehicle for his opinion. The wedding scene would have meant less if the reader did not
know that George did not go to college in order to stay with Emily, proving that context from the past makes the present experience richer than
without. Furthermore, Act II is where the Stage Manager explains that the people of the Grover's Corners of 1938 were making a time capsule, one
of the physical examples of retelling history. The Stage Manager says, "I'm going to have a copy of this play put in the
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Small Town Living In Our Town
The play Our Town, illustrates the true essence of small town living. When living in a small town, people see a familiar face wherever they go and
know the history and character behind these individuals. Life in a small town can lack options for entertainment at times; some may even categorize
it as "dull". Yet, anyone can see that Grover's Corners, the town written about in Our Town, and Colby, Kansas contain a life full of personality and
charm. The citizens of Grover's Corners live a basic life throughout the majority of the play. The play portrays daily life,love and marriage, and how
delicate life can amount to. The life lived today in Colby compared with Grover's Corners depicts several similarities as well as differences. Each
person in the small town lives a simple life that meets their basic needs: working, their political philosophy and their religious affiliation. In Act I, the
Lady in a Box quizzes Mr. Webb about the culture of the community. The playwright expresses this through Mr. Webb saying, "Well, ma'am, there ain't
much––not in the sense you mean" (Wilder 17). This means the townspeople don't attend elaborate concerts, but enjoy simple pleasures such as the
playing of a piano at local events. In our town, very rarely do big promoted concerts choose Colby as their venue, but citizens get to enjoy a lot of
local talent. The population of Grover's Corners consists of 3,149 people compared to Colby which has around 5,418 people. Furthermore, the
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Character Analysis Of Our Town By Thornton Wilder
Our Town Character Analysis "Our Town" is an American classic written by Thornton Wilder in 1938. Even though it was written over 50 years ago it
still resonates deep within its audience,"Our Town" is full of relatable characters that everyone has known at some point in their lives. For instance,
Mrs.Gibbs is the mother figure in this play that we all wish we had or reminds us of our own warm and kind mothers. She is one of the characters that
helps spur the play's main theme: Mortality. The 3 acts of "Our Town" show her transition of being full of emotions & passion to being impassioned
and numb.
In the first act Mrs.Gibbs is introduced and characterized as a woman in her mid–thirties, pleasant...show more content...
Doc. Gibbs then reminds her of their wedding and how despite his initial worries, they have been talking for almost thirty years. Later at the
wedding, Mrs. Gibbs keeps George in check and tells him that he wants this and he needs to man up. She also tells him that he is just afraid. This
scene is not only important because she pushes through George's fears but because this is the last time we see her alive.
Nine years have passed in the town Grover's Corners ,and most of the people that were introduced previously are dead. In this act Mrs.Gibbs
doesn't have a specific role other than to act as a somewhat mother figure for Emily(who recently died from childbirth) and to demonstrate how
death can change your perspective. Her motherly status is now cold and stoic instead of the warm personality she had in previous acts. She is one
of the first people to tell Emily that being dead is now her life and that she shouldn't go back. However, when Emily is going to back anyway,
Mrs.Gibbs tells her to pick an unimportant day in her life. When Emily gets back from the day Mrs.Gibbs tells Emily an equivalent to an"I told you
so". Mrs.Gibbs maternal instincts help Emily adjust to her death which is one of the scenes that cements the theme of "Our Town".
Playing a character that goes on this epic emotional journey presents
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Our Town By Thornton Wilder: Play Analysis
Our Town by Thornton Wilder is about a modest town called Grover's Corners, and the 3 different stages of life that everyone goes through. The
play's culture is something that is eternal that's no matter what you do, you will always go back to your home. My culture is that everyone has a
mind of their own and is able to learn from their mistakes and change from it. With the play it was set in the 1900s while my culture is in 2016. In
life, people will go through so many things, but it doesn't make us different from each other, we all go through and manage to get through it. In the
1900s, people went through experiencing in 2016 what we currently go through. It's not that different it's how we learned from our experiences that
change...show more content...
We go through life struggles and manage life by it. These are the stages of daily life, love, marriage,death and dying shows how we all are the same in
the 1900s till today in 2016. We go through very similar problems and manage to get through it well because everyone has gone through it because
everyone has experienced it. With family, tradition, superstition, appearance, personal judgement, personality, beliefs and gender roles are able to get
through life, learning things and discovering new things by having these aspects in our life. My culture is that everyone has a mind of their own and
are able to learn from our mistakes to make us better. Which relates to my thesis statement by everyone goes through life and we all make mistakes
and can learn from them. My experience with Our Town was really shocking and amazing to see that the elderly people went through the same things
that I experience now. I'm shocked that I'm not the only one was goes through it, but also exists in the 1900s. Everyone goes through life in their own
different way, but we struggle through it
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An Analysis of Our Town
It's the little things in life that count
An analysis of the representation of the daily life in Our Town
* Table of Contents
1Introduction3 2Biographical Background4 3Our Town5 3.1General5 3.2Theme5 3.3Publication5 4Analysis6 4.1Act 16 4.2Act 27 4.3Act 38
5Conclusion10 6Bibliography12 6.1Primary Literature12 6.2Secondary Literature12 6.3Webliography12
Introduction
Needless to say, Our Town is one of the most popular plays byThornton Wilder and not for nothing has it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938. The most
significant aspect in Our Town is the representation of the everyday life. Not only does the play explores American values of religion or...show more
content...
He began to study law, but he abandoned his studies only two years later.
"After serving in the United States Coast Guard during World War I, he attended Oberlin College before earning his B.A. at Yale University in 1920,
where he refined his writing skills as a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, a literary society. He earned his M.A. in French from Princeton
University in 1926." [Online 4]
After his studies, he began teaching at the University of Chicago, but he never stopped writing. During this time his first novels and plays were
published, for example, "Our Town". This play is considered to be one of this most famous plays, and it also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938, the year
when the play was published. Thornton Wilder died on December 7, in 1975 in Hamden, Connecticut. He was an "American icon, and an
internationally famous playwright and novelist. To this day, his works are read, performed and appreciated by audiences worldwide." [Online 5]
Our Town
General
Our Town is a so–called "slice–of–life" story, which means that the reader is able to relate to the story. He feels like he is involved in the play,
because of its representation of the daily life and all those little things in life which makes it interesting.
Theme
Our town has a carpe diem theme. Translated it means seize the day, people should concentrate themselves on the little things in life which are often
unappreciated. In some way, the play
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Central Theme Of The Play Our Town
The following will discuss the central theme of the play "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. The play covers the span of three acts and was written in
1938. Over the course of three acts the central theme manifests itself in unique fashion. That theme being the portrayal of the human life cycle; from
birth to maturation and adulthood including our mundane routines and occurrences, our milestones and eventual conclusion by means of death. Life
can be invaluable and yet so many of us fail to appreciate it. The acts of this script support this them by depicting the three major stages of life. Act I
portrays birth and beginnings. It shows everyday people going about their routines and even deals with family relationships and maturing. Act II
continues where the first act left...show more content...
The script shows ordinary people with everyday situations that many people would be able to relate to on one level or another. The experiences on
display throughout the play can be understood by those who may live in small towns like the one in the script or those who reside in major urban
areas. Another interesting aspect was how the disconnect between time and location was manifest. For example, about three years passed between act
I and II. From act II to act III, this covered a time period of nine years. Add to this the Stage Manager's flashbacks to the past and it almost resembles
Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Through his play, Wilder tries to teach the audience to seize the moment and enjoy living. Time and the future isn't
guaranteed for anyone, as shown by the premature deaths of Emily Webb and her brother, Wally. By naming the drama Our Town and portraying
ordinary people and events, the people in the audience and the readers of the play can identify with the theme and apply it to their own
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Our Town
Our Town by Thornton Wilder continues to be a timeless theatrical work performed pervasively throughout the world. This play remains a modern
classic due to Wilder's ingenuity in capturing the quintessential expression of the life cycle. Wilder segmented his play into three acts; each act
broadly encompassing a different phase in a person's life. The play presents the audience with situations parallel to the ones almost everyone faces
during their lifetime. This, in conjunction with breaking the fourth wall, allows for the audience to feel a part of the performance. The title of the play
itself lends to this feeling, for it is not my town or your town, but it's Our Town. This play emphasizes the idea that in the grand scheme of things, all
...show more content...
What started out as an elated and upbeat play, becomes a dark and sad reflection on the human inability to appreciate the lives they live. Emily's death
is predominantly the reason the play is so effective and affecting. The audience sees themselves the most within Emily. Her death reveals the basic
rhetorical purpose of the play, that within the most common events lie the most remarkable meanings of our lives. In realizing the beauty of the
mundane aspects of life can we fully appreciate the gift we have. Wilder suggests that, just as youth is wasted on the young, life is also wasted on the
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Essay on Our Town
In the play "Our Town", by Thornton Wilder, a character by the name of Simon Stimson makes a very insightful statement about people and their
lives. Simon is dead and buried, as well as several of the play's other characters, when a newly–dead young woman named Emily joins their ranks and
begins to realize the triviality and ignorance of her existence, as well as that of every living person. The dead are discussing this insignificance and
unawareness of the living when Simon comments with disgust on how much living persons waste their life, asserting, "To spend and waste time as
though you had a million years." In this statement, Simon is referring to the degree of which people take their lives for granted....show more content...
People live their lives working towards something they think will always be attainable, setting their eyes on the future, living for the future, rushing for
the future, and ignoring the present. With "Our Town",Thornton Wilder is attempting to show us these faults and trying to persuade us to live in and
for the present and to cherish every day that we live and breathe.
With the people of Grover's Corners representing this daily ignorance and triviality, the lives of the people who surround me are no exception.
Take, for instance, my father, who on most days awakes early to leave for his job, works all day and comes home only to drive my siblings and I
around, run errands, go to his side jobs, or fix the house, help us with our homework, stay on top of both our social lives, our moral growth, and our
educational careers. Some nights my father will sit down and watch some television for maybe an hour or two, while most he simply doing
everything but something for himself. On rare occasion is my father allowed to stop and enjoy life, and savor the moment. Honestly, I would really
like to know when the last time was that my father found time to simply admire his and my mother's garden without actually having to tend it. And yet
another example is my mother, who does not even have to worry about her job most of the time, for she works once to
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Essay about Thornton Wilder's Our Town
Thornton Wilder's Our Town Our Town is play written a while ago, but it relates to any time. Showing that routine is a part of everybody's life. No
matter what day and age you live in your going to have a routine. This play shows an example of two families and their daily routines. The whole play
relates to routine even the different acts.
Our Town takes place in Grover's Corner, New Hampshire around the turn of the century. (1900's). This play uses a lot of flashbacks. There's one with
George and Emily when they first fall in love at Mr. Morgan's shop. It also uses foreshadowing. When they told of how everyone died. Another
flashback is when Joe comes back after about ten years and they talk about the dead and everyone's lives.
George...show more content...
The dialect throughout this play was universal. It could be used in many different areas and/or time periods. I thought that the dialect used throughout
this book was very similar to how people around Garden City talk. "Blessed be the tie that binds" is played a lot in Our Town. This song ties in with
the theme perfectly. Showing how everything is connected and how we miss all the small things in the world.
The staging is kept very simple. This allows you to think up what they are describing. Which lets you use your imagination to make it look as you
wish. There isn't much to the stage as I said they keep it simple, for example: for the wedding all they have are chairs set up in rows. The lighting is
low making it easier for you to make your own stage with your imagination.
This play could actually have two themes. Living life to the fullest, and appreciate the small things in life. I believe the author wrote this play to
show that no matter what the time is or where you live your going to have a routine and the cycle of life. The theme is really developed when
Rebecca is at the grave yard and goes back for her day of life. She realizes that she never appreciated things that mattered. The value of this play today
is great because it relates to us as it will continue to do so for some time.
I believe the title Our Town is good for this play. It shows that it can be any town and anytime. I didn't really like that play, but I did
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Our Town Movie Vs Play
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. Even though this
directorial concept worked,
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Analysis Of The Play ' Our Town '
The theme of Thorton Wilder's play, "Our Town" is about how we all take life for granted, forgetting to appreciate every moment of our lives. Even the
smallest moments should be noticed, the moments that make us who we are and the moments that might seem irrelevant at that time but they are in
fact very beautiful and precious. Because we will never get to experience it for the second time, even if we want to.
In my opinion, the protagonists are the stage manager, who helps to tie all scenes together and also the people of Grover's Corners. The antagonist is
within each and every character of the town themselves, who fail to realize the beauty of life and instead just let it pass by. The play mostly circulates
around the ordinary life, the cycle of humans, simple, normal everyday lives. Their motivations and goals make sense to the theme of the play
because it depicts the life of humans from beginning to end, and at the end there is a flashback, which concludes the theme of the play, which is to
live life to the fullest. The primary conflict is that we take life for granted, we fail to appreciate what we have until it's all gone.
The best actor in my opinion is Jake Offen, who plays the stage manager. Even though during Act II, he stepped into the play and became Mr.
Morgan, and served ice cream sodas to Emily Webb and George Gibbs. I don't think he was really a character, nor actor of the play, but rather a part of
the crew staging. I still think he did a really good job of
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Our Town Quotes
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?–every, every minute? (Emily Webb, Act III)" Our Town presents life as it truly is; as humans,
we tend to only remember the big events in our life, and neglect the minute details. Throughout the book, Wilder entertains the notion that humans have
learned to seemingly distance themselves from anything that doesn't have immediate value to their memories. Our Town proves this notion by
examining key aspects of the average person's life in Grover's Corners– childhood and marriage. To quote the Stage Manager as they exclaim in Act I,
"This is the way we were: in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying". .As children, things always seemed to go over our
heads.
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Our Town Essay
Our Town is a rather unorthodox production. Most playwrights want to go for realism and detail, with huge scene sets or intricate scene changes. Not
this one. In Our Town the author (Thornton Wilder) strives to create a play which does not need to rely on scenery and detail, but visualization and the
investment of the audience. In this way there is nothing to distract from the core message or plot of the play. What this play does take to it's
advantage are sound effect; with the lack of props or scenery the sound effects give us the perfect amount of imagery to go on. Now within this
script there are several directors in which have taken the play and made it their own. Out of three of the plays being: NBC's 1977 representation,
PBS's 1989 representation, and PBS's 2003 representation. From these three representations one of theme most suitably gets a grasp of what Wilder
was going for; simplicity, relatability, and imagery. PBS's 2003 representation best defines what wilder's vision of his great play was. One of the key
parts of the play was the stage manager. This is just the beginning of wilders many choices that made this play so different from others....show more
content...
If in order to get an A on a test one studies every night for 30 minutes, and it works, why change the routine? This is how PBS's 2003 production
has a grasp of. Wilder wrote the play with the vision of a simple, yet powerful play. In writing with that vision, the power of the play cannot be
obtained if it is not simple. Even though the PBS 2003 production was a film, it still has the look and comfort of sitting in a cozy theater. This was
not obtained from the other two. The other two were filmed from the shoulders up in dialogue like a movie; and without props or scenery this took
away the only physical visualization the viewer could observe. This, in turn, made them seem even more dull and the words less
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Critical Analysis Of Our Town
The classic production of Our Town written by Thornton Wilder was performed by the students of South Milwaukee High School at their own
Performing Arts Center. Overall the performance was good, but there were times where the performance went in and out of spouts of boredom. I
personally felt the story was really intrequing and thought provoking which made it all more dissapointing when I felt I was being left behind by the
acting effort and technical aspect. The production was bursting with a lot of tapped talent, but lacked untapped potential. In general it was a nice time
seeing it and enjoying the story with the cast. Our Town is a quite meta play that makes one question everything they thought they knew about theatre
from the importance of a set to the self– awarness of characters. While being narrated and lead by the "Stage Manager" it follows George Gibbs,
Emily Webb, and their respective families as they expereince a typical life through the three acts: Daily Life, Love and Marriage, and Death and
Eternity. The play takes place from 1901– 1913 and questions the essence of life, theatre, and life through theatre ultimtely ending with Emily Webb
herslef finding out these answers through the regret she experiences after death.
By far the best performers in the production were the young actors portraying George Gibbs, Emily Webb, and Emily's father Mr. Webb. These actors
were exceptionally expressive and immersed into their characters. Emily was incredibly fluent in
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Essay About Our Town

  • 1. Essay about Our Town Our Town "Our Town", by Thornton Wilder, written in 1938, was first performed at the McCarter theatre, New Jersey, on the 22nd of January1938. It is an example of meta theatre, and chronicles the lives of ordinary, everyday people, during their ordinary, everyday lives. The story is based in Grover's Corners, a small town in New Hampshire, set at the turn of the century. The play involves three main acts, each focussed upon a different aspect of life. Set in 1901, the first act simply discusses the passing of an uneventful day in the town. We are exposed to all the characters, particularly two teenage characters, Emily Webb, and George Gibbs. The second act focuses upon 'love and marriage', and takes place in 1904, the...show more content... The staging of the play would once again be taken from Wilder's original concept. The set would be bare of extravagant props and detail, only small, essential props being used. This would highlight the need of the audience to perceive the value in small things. The staging actually provides a channel for understanding for the audience. A bare stage, but for tables, chairs, of each of the families would allow the audience to develop their own mental set. The stage being merely a blank set with a few tables respects Wilder's third fundamental condition for theatre, that theatre is "a world of pretense". As the play is based on a "world of pretense", there is no need for concentration upon sets and costumes, the characters and narrative create the simple reality instead. The play is continuously interrupted by the Stage Manager, providing background information, and commentary, this reminds us that we are watching a play. Since the audience is constantly reminded of the play, any attempts to imitate a real life situation, by set are futile. As Wilder requested there would be no backstage curtain, a literal bare stage. The most important aspect of "Our Town" is the way the characters are portrayed, and perceived. To be effective, the characters need to
  • 2. display emotions, and demonstrate their characters in an almost generic manner, each displaying their "type" of person. Wilder's second Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 3. Our Town The Life of Love and Choices I. Thesis Statement In Our Town, the play emphasizes quantities of life, which leads to appreciating everyday occurrences we go through. II. Overview 1. The name of the play is called, Our Town 2. The author is Thornton Wilder 3. SFSU Department of Theatre Arts 4. Little Theatre 5. Watched the play on March 17th, at 2:00pm 6. Ticket price cost $12.00, purchased through online website 7. Sat in Row D, Seat 2. Front right section of theatre 8. Shared experience with a classmate, both agreed it was a great play that involved the quality of life. III. Plot The play, Our Town, is defined as a "playwright", which involved physical action and representing the externals of human behavior. The play in general ...show more content... Using certain shapes of materials and color helped the audience understand the scenery of the play, being able to understand what time period this took place. The lighting through the play was great, being able to clearly see in detail for each scene. For example, when the Stage manager introduces the people in Grover's Corner, is was clear and easy to see what type of life style they live. Grisel Torres did an excellent job with the angles, colors, and shadows throughout the play, really emphasizing the emotion and lighting for each scene. Allison Mortimer, the costume designer, did a good job figuring out what each character should wear and allowing the audience to decide which class each character fits in society. The costumes looked like they were somewhat middle class and even looked vintage at times. I wasn't sure if they were recreated or not. Changing costumes for different scenes made it easier to understand the aspect of the scene and allowing the audience to understand what will happen.
  • 4. IX. Convention The Stage Manager, which is known to the narrator, also shows up in many different scenes as a character. For example, he comes into a scene as Mr. Morgan the drugstore owner who serves ice cream to Emily and George. The play had a lot of objects that were not presently there, the characters did their best trying to symbolize what it would be like using those objects. An example, Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 5. Our Town Theme Essay Throughout Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, resistance to change is a popular, repeated theme; this theme is easily seen when George and Emily walk home from school together and stop at the drugstore for ice cream sodas. Emily's caution as to not upset George when confronting him about changing and Mr. Morgan's negative comments about the changes going on in town and about the passage of time making matters worse, show the seriousness that townspeople of Grover's Corners take any amount of change. As soon as Emily starts talking, readers can tell that she is choosing her words very carefully. "I'm sorry if it hurt your feelings...but I can't be sorry I said it" (65), Emily tells George right after her speech, and Wilder uses an ellipsis to indicate Emily pausing in order to think of how to best phrase what she wants to say. She does not want to hurt George's feelings by accusing him of changing, because change is not regarded as a good thing in Grover's Corners, this also brings to light that Emily must care for George in some...show more content... Mr. Morgan stands so opposed times changing that according to him traffic, "gets worse every year" (67). He could have said many things instead of saying that the traffic "gets worse", he could have said that it just gets busier or more dangerous. It seems like the changes have occured for a while now too because the change "gets worse every year" so some change must have already occurred. Mr. Morgan sees the recent changes as negative, compared to the past because he often times brings up how things are "these days" (67), versus how they were before things started changing. To anyone outside of the town, these changes would be seen more positively. Cars becoming more popular would mean faster travel and easier transportation of goods, but because that would be different that how things used to be, the people of Grover's Corners are not Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 6. Our Town Analysis Essay 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. In the first act when Mrs. Gibbs and...show more content... The play makes you think, whether for a split moment or a long time, about the idea of being aware while going about even the most menial of tasks. While at the funeral, the living members of the cast all have umbrellas above their heads. The dead members sit in chairs imitating graves, and are rained upon. The symbolism represented by the umbrellas could be that the living are sheltered from the light of reality and importance. Only when you are dead do you notice that there was more to it, and the umbrella that you held while it was raining is taken away, allowing you to be opened up to a whole new light of realization. In the scene just before the wedding, George tries to see his bride–to–be. The Webb’s explain to him the superstition behind not allowing the groom to see his bride until she walks down the isle. The action of this scene is anxiety. George wants to see Emily before the big event and is expressing a great desire to do so. The parents are intent on not allowing George to see their daughter. Mrs. Webb is also understandably worried about loosing a daughter to marriage. Emily is upstairs having reservations about the whole ordeal. Mr. Webb brings the two of them together before the wedding, breaking the superstition, and explains to them that they were meant to be together. He has George tell his bride that he will do the best he can to take Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 7. Our Town Aristotelian and Modern Elements of Tragedy in Our Town In the story of Our Town by Thornton Wilder the protagonist Emily Webb lives the most ordinary type of life known to man. She born and raised in the consistent monotonous town of Grover's Corner. Emily married her neighbor, George Gibbs, has children, than in inevitably passes away. In the play Emily never takes a single moment to look around and appreciate the life she and is always in a never ending rush to complete the next necessary milestone in her life. Once she has passed away Emily's tragic flaw is apparent to her and she full heartedly regrets never taking time to treasure the precious life she had. In the essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" by Arthur Miller the definition of a literary tragedy is redefined for the modern era. Emily Webb's character and...show more content... In Aristotelian tragedy the tragic hero is always someone of elevated status within society, whether it's a king, queen or even a powerful politician. However on Miller's modern day definition of a tragedy, the tragic hero is more commonly an average individual who is not a higher powerin society by any means. Miller states "I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were"(Miller part. 2). In Our Town Emily Webb can be considered "common" in every sense possible. Grovers Corner is exspenstionaly ordinary. In act one when Mr. Webb is asked about the town, he describes it as " Very, ordinary town, if you ask me. Little better behaved than most. Probably a lot duller"(Wilder 24). In this quote Mr. Webb proves that Grover's Corner and the people living in it are average. Also that the people tend to get Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 8. Literary Analysis : Our Town By Thornton Wilder Our Town: Literary Analysis Essay Storytelling is a tradition that has been part of the human race for millennia. Throughout the years, humans have told the next generation stories about what their predecessors had done before them, whether it be big events like international wars, or little events like one's family history. The act of retelling history is often categorized as something done in order for those in the younger generations to learn from their ancestors' mistakes. However, the author of the play Our Town, Thornton Wilder, challenges this notion. Wilder's play is a flashback to the small town of Grover's Corners in 1901. It tells the story of the residents in Grover's Corners, an average small town, and narrates...show more content... This is significant, because it is in this part that Wilder begins to first retell history. The fact that Wilder chooses the history of the average suburban town of Grover's Corners to retell is also important, because it shows Wilder deemed the history of the people in a typical town like Grover's Corners worthy of retelling, even though nothing that usually is described as eventful happens there. In Act II, titled "Love and Marriage," the characters Emily Gibbs and George Webb are getting married. Before the wedding, the Stage Manager pauses the play to flashback to where it all began, by saying, "I have to interrupt again here. You see, we want to know how all this began... I'm awfully interested in how big things like that begin" (Wilder 62). In this part of the play, Wilder shows how it is important to look to the past to fully appreciate the present, and uses the Stage Manager as a vehicle for his opinion. The wedding scene would have meant less if the reader did not know that George did not go to college in order to stay with Emily, proving that context from the past makes the present experience richer than without. Furthermore, Act II is where the Stage Manager explains that the people of the Grover's Corners of 1938 were making a time capsule, one of the physical examples of retelling history. The Stage Manager says, "I'm going to have a copy of this play put in the Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 9. Small Town Living In Our Town The play Our Town, illustrates the true essence of small town living. When living in a small town, people see a familiar face wherever they go and know the history and character behind these individuals. Life in a small town can lack options for entertainment at times; some may even categorize it as "dull". Yet, anyone can see that Grover's Corners, the town written about in Our Town, and Colby, Kansas contain a life full of personality and charm. The citizens of Grover's Corners live a basic life throughout the majority of the play. The play portrays daily life,love and marriage, and how delicate life can amount to. The life lived today in Colby compared with Grover's Corners depicts several similarities as well as differences. Each person in the small town lives a simple life that meets their basic needs: working, their political philosophy and their religious affiliation. In Act I, the Lady in a Box quizzes Mr. Webb about the culture of the community. The playwright expresses this through Mr. Webb saying, "Well, ma'am, there ain't much––not in the sense you mean" (Wilder 17). This means the townspeople don't attend elaborate concerts, but enjoy simple pleasures such as the playing of a piano at local events. In our town, very rarely do big promoted concerts choose Colby as their venue, but citizens get to enjoy a lot of local talent. The population of Grover's Corners consists of 3,149 people compared to Colby which has around 5,418 people. Furthermore, the Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 10. Character Analysis Of Our Town By Thornton Wilder Our Town Character Analysis "Our Town" is an American classic written by Thornton Wilder in 1938. Even though it was written over 50 years ago it still resonates deep within its audience,"Our Town" is full of relatable characters that everyone has known at some point in their lives. For instance, Mrs.Gibbs is the mother figure in this play that we all wish we had or reminds us of our own warm and kind mothers. She is one of the characters that helps spur the play's main theme: Mortality. The 3 acts of "Our Town" show her transition of being full of emotions & passion to being impassioned and numb. In the first act Mrs.Gibbs is introduced and characterized as a woman in her mid–thirties, pleasant...show more content... Doc. Gibbs then reminds her of their wedding and how despite his initial worries, they have been talking for almost thirty years. Later at the wedding, Mrs. Gibbs keeps George in check and tells him that he wants this and he needs to man up. She also tells him that he is just afraid. This scene is not only important because she pushes through George's fears but because this is the last time we see her alive. Nine years have passed in the town Grover's Corners ,and most of the people that were introduced previously are dead. In this act Mrs.Gibbs doesn't have a specific role other than to act as a somewhat mother figure for Emily(who recently died from childbirth) and to demonstrate how death can change your perspective. Her motherly status is now cold and stoic instead of the warm personality she had in previous acts. She is one of the first people to tell Emily that being dead is now her life and that she shouldn't go back. However, when Emily is going to back anyway, Mrs.Gibbs tells her to pick an unimportant day in her life. When Emily gets back from the day Mrs.Gibbs tells Emily an equivalent to an"I told you so". Mrs.Gibbs maternal instincts help Emily adjust to her death which is one of the scenes that cements the theme of "Our Town". Playing a character that goes on this epic emotional journey presents Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 11. Our Town By Thornton Wilder: Play Analysis Our Town by Thornton Wilder is about a modest town called Grover's Corners, and the 3 different stages of life that everyone goes through. The play's culture is something that is eternal that's no matter what you do, you will always go back to your home. My culture is that everyone has a mind of their own and is able to learn from their mistakes and change from it. With the play it was set in the 1900s while my culture is in 2016. In life, people will go through so many things, but it doesn't make us different from each other, we all go through and manage to get through it. In the 1900s, people went through experiencing in 2016 what we currently go through. It's not that different it's how we learned from our experiences that change...show more content... We go through life struggles and manage life by it. These are the stages of daily life, love, marriage,death and dying shows how we all are the same in the 1900s till today in 2016. We go through very similar problems and manage to get through it well because everyone has gone through it because everyone has experienced it. With family, tradition, superstition, appearance, personal judgement, personality, beliefs and gender roles are able to get through life, learning things and discovering new things by having these aspects in our life. My culture is that everyone has a mind of their own and are able to learn from our mistakes to make us better. Which relates to my thesis statement by everyone goes through life and we all make mistakes and can learn from them. My experience with Our Town was really shocking and amazing to see that the elderly people went through the same things that I experience now. I'm shocked that I'm not the only one was goes through it, but also exists in the 1900s. Everyone goes through life in their own different way, but we struggle through it Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 12. An Analysis of Our Town It's the little things in life that count An analysis of the representation of the daily life in Our Town * Table of Contents 1Introduction3 2Biographical Background4 3Our Town5 3.1General5 3.2Theme5 3.3Publication5 4Analysis6 4.1Act 16 4.2Act 27 4.3Act 38 5Conclusion10 6Bibliography12 6.1Primary Literature12 6.2Secondary Literature12 6.3Webliography12 Introduction Needless to say, Our Town is one of the most popular plays byThornton Wilder and not for nothing has it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938. The most significant aspect in Our Town is the representation of the everyday life. Not only does the play explores American values of religion or...show more content... He began to study law, but he abandoned his studies only two years later. "After serving in the United States Coast Guard during World War I, he attended Oberlin College before earning his B.A. at Yale University in 1920, where he refined his writing skills as a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, a literary society. He earned his M.A. in French from Princeton University in 1926." [Online 4] After his studies, he began teaching at the University of Chicago, but he never stopped writing. During this time his first novels and plays were published, for example, "Our Town". This play is considered to be one of this most famous plays, and it also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938, the year when the play was published. Thornton Wilder died on December 7, in 1975 in Hamden, Connecticut. He was an "American icon, and an internationally famous playwright and novelist. To this day, his works are read, performed and appreciated by audiences worldwide." [Online 5] Our Town General Our Town is a so–called "slice–of–life" story, which means that the reader is able to relate to the story. He feels like he is involved in the play,
  • 13. because of its representation of the daily life and all those little things in life which makes it interesting. Theme Our town has a carpe diem theme. Translated it means seize the day, people should concentrate themselves on the little things in life which are often unappreciated. In some way, the play Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 14. Central Theme Of The Play Our Town The following will discuss the central theme of the play "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. The play covers the span of three acts and was written in 1938. Over the course of three acts the central theme manifests itself in unique fashion. That theme being the portrayal of the human life cycle; from birth to maturation and adulthood including our mundane routines and occurrences, our milestones and eventual conclusion by means of death. Life can be invaluable and yet so many of us fail to appreciate it. The acts of this script support this them by depicting the three major stages of life. Act I portrays birth and beginnings. It shows everyday people going about their routines and even deals with family relationships and maturing. Act II continues where the first act left...show more content... The script shows ordinary people with everyday situations that many people would be able to relate to on one level or another. The experiences on display throughout the play can be understood by those who may live in small towns like the one in the script or those who reside in major urban areas. Another interesting aspect was how the disconnect between time and location was manifest. For example, about three years passed between act I and II. From act II to act III, this covered a time period of nine years. Add to this the Stage Manager's flashbacks to the past and it almost resembles Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Through his play, Wilder tries to teach the audience to seize the moment and enjoy living. Time and the future isn't guaranteed for anyone, as shown by the premature deaths of Emily Webb and her brother, Wally. By naming the drama Our Town and portraying ordinary people and events, the people in the audience and the readers of the play can identify with the theme and apply it to their own Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 15. Our Town Our Town by Thornton Wilder continues to be a timeless theatrical work performed pervasively throughout the world. This play remains a modern classic due to Wilder's ingenuity in capturing the quintessential expression of the life cycle. Wilder segmented his play into three acts; each act broadly encompassing a different phase in a person's life. The play presents the audience with situations parallel to the ones almost everyone faces during their lifetime. This, in conjunction with breaking the fourth wall, allows for the audience to feel a part of the performance. The title of the play itself lends to this feeling, for it is not my town or your town, but it's Our Town. This play emphasizes the idea that in the grand scheme of things, all ...show more content... What started out as an elated and upbeat play, becomes a dark and sad reflection on the human inability to appreciate the lives they live. Emily's death is predominantly the reason the play is so effective and affecting. The audience sees themselves the most within Emily. Her death reveals the basic rhetorical purpose of the play, that within the most common events lie the most remarkable meanings of our lives. In realizing the beauty of the mundane aspects of life can we fully appreciate the gift we have. Wilder suggests that, just as youth is wasted on the young, life is also wasted on the Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 16. Essay on Our Town In the play "Our Town", by Thornton Wilder, a character by the name of Simon Stimson makes a very insightful statement about people and their lives. Simon is dead and buried, as well as several of the play's other characters, when a newly–dead young woman named Emily joins their ranks and begins to realize the triviality and ignorance of her existence, as well as that of every living person. The dead are discussing this insignificance and unawareness of the living when Simon comments with disgust on how much living persons waste their life, asserting, "To spend and waste time as though you had a million years." In this statement, Simon is referring to the degree of which people take their lives for granted....show more content... People live their lives working towards something they think will always be attainable, setting their eyes on the future, living for the future, rushing for the future, and ignoring the present. With "Our Town",Thornton Wilder is attempting to show us these faults and trying to persuade us to live in and for the present and to cherish every day that we live and breathe. With the people of Grover's Corners representing this daily ignorance and triviality, the lives of the people who surround me are no exception. Take, for instance, my father, who on most days awakes early to leave for his job, works all day and comes home only to drive my siblings and I around, run errands, go to his side jobs, or fix the house, help us with our homework, stay on top of both our social lives, our moral growth, and our educational careers. Some nights my father will sit down and watch some television for maybe an hour or two, while most he simply doing everything but something for himself. On rare occasion is my father allowed to stop and enjoy life, and savor the moment. Honestly, I would really like to know when the last time was that my father found time to simply admire his and my mother's garden without actually having to tend it. And yet another example is my mother, who does not even have to worry about her job most of the time, for she works once to Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 17. Essay about Thornton Wilder's Our Town Thornton Wilder's Our Town Our Town is play written a while ago, but it relates to any time. Showing that routine is a part of everybody's life. No matter what day and age you live in your going to have a routine. This play shows an example of two families and their daily routines. The whole play relates to routine even the different acts. Our Town takes place in Grover's Corner, New Hampshire around the turn of the century. (1900's). This play uses a lot of flashbacks. There's one with George and Emily when they first fall in love at Mr. Morgan's shop. It also uses foreshadowing. When they told of how everyone died. Another flashback is when Joe comes back after about ten years and they talk about the dead and everyone's lives. George...show more content... The dialect throughout this play was universal. It could be used in many different areas and/or time periods. I thought that the dialect used throughout this book was very similar to how people around Garden City talk. "Blessed be the tie that binds" is played a lot in Our Town. This song ties in with the theme perfectly. Showing how everything is connected and how we miss all the small things in the world. The staging is kept very simple. This allows you to think up what they are describing. Which lets you use your imagination to make it look as you wish. There isn't much to the stage as I said they keep it simple, for example: for the wedding all they have are chairs set up in rows. The lighting is low making it easier for you to make your own stage with your imagination. This play could actually have two themes. Living life to the fullest, and appreciate the small things in life. I believe the author wrote this play to show that no matter what the time is or where you live your going to have a routine and the cycle of life. The theme is really developed when Rebecca is at the grave yard and goes back for her day of life. She realizes that she never appreciated things that mattered. The value of this play today is great because it relates to us as it will continue to do so for some time. I believe the title Our Town is good for this play. It shows that it can be any town and anytime. I didn't really like that play, but I did
  • 18. Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 19. Our Town Movie Vs Play 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. Even though this directorial concept worked, Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 20. Analysis Of The Play ' Our Town ' The theme of Thorton Wilder's play, "Our Town" is about how we all take life for granted, forgetting to appreciate every moment of our lives. Even the smallest moments should be noticed, the moments that make us who we are and the moments that might seem irrelevant at that time but they are in fact very beautiful and precious. Because we will never get to experience it for the second time, even if we want to. In my opinion, the protagonists are the stage manager, who helps to tie all scenes together and also the people of Grover's Corners. The antagonist is within each and every character of the town themselves, who fail to realize the beauty of life and instead just let it pass by. The play mostly circulates around the ordinary life, the cycle of humans, simple, normal everyday lives. Their motivations and goals make sense to the theme of the play because it depicts the life of humans from beginning to end, and at the end there is a flashback, which concludes the theme of the play, which is to live life to the fullest. The primary conflict is that we take life for granted, we fail to appreciate what we have until it's all gone. The best actor in my opinion is Jake Offen, who plays the stage manager. Even though during Act II, he stepped into the play and became Mr. Morgan, and served ice cream sodas to Emily Webb and George Gibbs. I don't think he was really a character, nor actor of the play, but rather a part of the crew staging. I still think he did a really good job of Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 21. Our Town Quotes "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?–every, every minute? (Emily Webb, Act III)" Our Town presents life as it truly is; as humans, we tend to only remember the big events in our life, and neglect the minute details. Throughout the book, Wilder entertains the notion that humans have learned to seemingly distance themselves from anything that doesn't have immediate value to their memories. Our Town proves this notion by examining key aspects of the average person's life in Grover's Corners– childhood and marriage. To quote the Stage Manager as they exclaim in Act I, "This is the way we were: in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying". .As children, things always seemed to go over our heads. Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 22. Our Town Essay Our Town is a rather unorthodox production. Most playwrights want to go for realism and detail, with huge scene sets or intricate scene changes. Not this one. In Our Town the author (Thornton Wilder) strives to create a play which does not need to rely on scenery and detail, but visualization and the investment of the audience. In this way there is nothing to distract from the core message or plot of the play. What this play does take to it's advantage are sound effect; with the lack of props or scenery the sound effects give us the perfect amount of imagery to go on. Now within this script there are several directors in which have taken the play and made it their own. Out of three of the plays being: NBC's 1977 representation, PBS's 1989 representation, and PBS's 2003 representation. From these three representations one of theme most suitably gets a grasp of what Wilder was going for; simplicity, relatability, and imagery. PBS's 2003 representation best defines what wilder's vision of his great play was. One of the key parts of the play was the stage manager. This is just the beginning of wilders many choices that made this play so different from others....show more content... If in order to get an A on a test one studies every night for 30 minutes, and it works, why change the routine? This is how PBS's 2003 production has a grasp of. Wilder wrote the play with the vision of a simple, yet powerful play. In writing with that vision, the power of the play cannot be obtained if it is not simple. Even though the PBS 2003 production was a film, it still has the look and comfort of sitting in a cozy theater. This was not obtained from the other two. The other two were filmed from the shoulders up in dialogue like a movie; and without props or scenery this took away the only physical visualization the viewer could observe. This, in turn, made them seem even more dull and the words less Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 23. Critical Analysis Of Our Town The classic production of Our Town written by Thornton Wilder was performed by the students of South Milwaukee High School at their own Performing Arts Center. Overall the performance was good, but there were times where the performance went in and out of spouts of boredom. I personally felt the story was really intrequing and thought provoking which made it all more dissapointing when I felt I was being left behind by the acting effort and technical aspect. The production was bursting with a lot of tapped talent, but lacked untapped potential. In general it was a nice time seeing it and enjoying the story with the cast. Our Town is a quite meta play that makes one question everything they thought they knew about theatre from the importance of a set to the self– awarness of characters. While being narrated and lead by the "Stage Manager" it follows George Gibbs, Emily Webb, and their respective families as they expereince a typical life through the three acts: Daily Life, Love and Marriage, and Death and Eternity. The play takes place from 1901– 1913 and questions the essence of life, theatre, and life through theatre ultimtely ending with Emily Webb herslef finding out these answers through the regret she experiences after death. By far the best performers in the production were the young actors portraying George Gibbs, Emily Webb, and Emily's father Mr. Webb. These actors were exceptionally expressive and immersed into their characters. Emily was incredibly fluent in Get more content on HelpWriting.net