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American Players Theatre
5950 Golf Course Road
P.O. Box 819
Spring Green, WI 53588
(Map)
Box Office: 608-588-2361
Administration: 608-588-7401
Fax: 608-588-7085
Our Town
IN EACH MOMENT, MULTITUDES
Every moment holds a mystery. We set them free without a thought – endless choices slipping past us with every breath. But then, there are the ones that flash with inevitability, when we are frozen for a beat in the light of our shifting stars. Emergent love. Stunning comprehension. Shattering grief. Brilliant shards of life that are universal, and completely unique to the folks that bear them. Grover's Corners is a town made up of these moments, brought to life by its irresistible residents. Each charming soul experiencing a life that’s uniquely their own, within the embrace of their community. They share a simple human truth – that even when we feel most insignificant, we are part of something grand and endless. An American Classic not seen on this Hill in a generation. See it this summer with fresh eyes and an open heart. Runs June 23 - September 22.
Synopsis
Wilder’s Pulitzer-Prize winning classic returns to the Hill Theatre for the first time since 1992. That little town of Grover’s Corners contains multitudes. Centered around George and Emily, a young couple in love, the story of their lives together evolves as the acts carry on, intertwined with the story of the town itself, the narrative stewarded by an all-knowing stage manager. A timeless tale that gently reminds us about the importance of appreciating the life we have, and the people with whom we share it.
Learn More about Wisconsinite Thornton Wilder and productions of his works at thorntonwilder.com
Casting subject to change
Cast
Stage Manager
Dr. Gibbs
Joe Crowell
Howie Newsome
Mrs. Gibbs
Mrs. Webb
George Gibbs
Rebecca Gibbs
Wally Webb
Emily Webb
Professor Willard
Mr. Webb
Simon Stimson
Mrs. Soames
Constable Bill Warren
Si Crowell
Baseball Players
Sam Craig
Joe Stoddard
Farmer McCarty
Mr. Carter
Staff
Voice & Text Coach
Assistant Director
Costume Design
Scenic Design
Lighting Design
Sound Design & Original Music
Assistant Costume Design
Stage Management Assistant
Stage Manager
*
Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers
**
Member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, an Independent Labor Union
†
Member of United Scenic Artists
The birth and life of an American classic: 'Our Town'
By Bud Kliment
Our Town Portable Prologue on Apple Podcasts
Our Town Portable Prologue on Spotify
'Our Town' at APT slows down for a look at small town life
By Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times, July 10, 2023
Our Town at APT
Video by Hannah Jo Anderson
APT's "Our Town" finds meaning in the mundane
By Tara Awate, The Daily Cardinal, July 13, 2023
Director's Note
“The play is about Mortality.”
Thornton Wilder on “Our Town”
“It is the life of a village against the life of the stars.”
Thornton Wilder on “Our Town”
“But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”
Thornton Wilder. “The Bridge of San Luis Rey”
Our Town – Grover’s Corners, NH – isn’t everybody’s town: it is OUR town. Every town has its own distinction…
I realize you are viewing the play through contemporary eyes and that the gap between today and the time period of Our Town is well over 100 years. And though the Stage Manager attempts to bridge that divide, she will make no attempt to convince you that Grover’s Corners is a role model of small-town living; she just tells you how it used to be. As the Stage Manager warns us: “Some of the things they’re going to say maybe’ll hurt your feelings – but that’s the way it is.”
Our Town is made up solely of shared relationships. Families/friends/neighbors/citizens: this community believes in the goodness of work, usefulness, and commitment, in protecting each other while respecting each other’s privacy, in forgiving and defending, in the freedom to worship, or not, without judgement. They are proud to be a part of the United States of America.
Thornton Wilder felt neither scenery nor props should ever distract from what is occurring between people, so there is nothing in the visual aspect of the play other than a few simple things to help these relationships and values exist. He wishes the audience to enter the play through their own empathies and abilities to imagine. I agree.
I like that the theater is completely exposed because the actors have no place to hide.
The Stage Manager talks about the Eternal in all human beings, and she doesn’t mean heaven. She means the essence we eventually become after we die - which is determined by the spirit we are when alive. She means Love. This production, along with American Players Theatre, is interested in those essences – the spirit in which lives are lived and relationships shared.
- Tim Ocel, Director of Our Town
