Adaptation of Our Town
Of the three versions of Our Town that we viewed in class, the PBS 2003 version best portrayed what the author Thornton Wilder wanted. Our Town is quite a unique play due to the fact that unlike most play’s the Stage Manager is on the stage rather than behind the scenes. The Stage Manager is also a character in the play itself and acts as a narrator in the play, so he talks directly to the audience the majority of the time. This unique characteristic allows a director to make frequent creative choices that can create a variety of different versions of the play for audience members to view The NBC 1977 version of Our Town was not the least akin to what Thornton Wilder wanted, but it was my personal least favorite. First of all, the actors were not completely engaged in the play itself and they acknowledged the Stage Manager too often, this caused the audience to separate themselves from the story rather than submerge themselves in it. Another problem with the NBC 1977 version is that the narrator is too casual and this makes him seem as …show more content…
This makes it seem as though he is lecturing the audience or reading from a book, which creates a sense of disconnect. Another way that the PBS 1989 version of Our Town disconnects the audience from the story is when the “audience” asks questions about the town. Instead of having actors within the audience asking questions this version had all of the questions written down on note cards. This does not let the audience feel as though they are a part of the story the author wanted them to. The PBS 1989 version is also not spectacular due to the actors lack emotion/physical chemistry, several of them seem as though they are reading their lines from the script, rather than actually becoming the character and living the lines the way an actor should. Overall, the 1989 version was the least akin to what Thornton Wilder
Of the three versions of Our Town that we viewed in class, the PBS 2003 version best portrayed what the author Thornton Wilder wanted. Our Town is quite a unique play due to the fact that unlike most play’s the Stage Manager is on the stage rather than behind the scenes. The Stage Manager is also a character in the play itself and acts as a narrator in the play, so he talks directly to the audience the majority of the time. This unique characteristic allows a director to make frequent creative choices that can create a variety of different versions of the play for audience members to view The NBC 1977 version of Our Town was not the least akin to what Thornton Wilder wanted, but it was my personal least favorite. First of all, the actors were not completely engaged in the play itself and they acknowledged the Stage Manager too often, this caused the audience to separate themselves from the story rather than submerge themselves in it. Another problem with the NBC 1977 version is that the narrator is too casual and this makes him seem as …show more content…
This makes it seem as though he is lecturing the audience or reading from a book, which creates a sense of disconnect. Another way that the PBS 1989 version of Our Town disconnects the audience from the story is when the “audience” asks questions about the town. Instead of having actors within the audience asking questions this version had all of the questions written down on note cards. This does not let the audience feel as though they are a part of the story the author wanted them to. The PBS 1989 version is also not spectacular due to the actors lack emotion/physical chemistry, several of them seem as though they are reading their lines from the script, rather than actually becoming the character and living the lines the way an actor should. Overall, the 1989 version was the least akin to what Thornton Wilder