The Westport Country Playhouse production of Our Town Written by Thornton Wilder proves to be a rather interesting telling of life. The plot is hard to understand at first, in fact it is rather confusing and the long explanations from the narrator slow the pace of the show. However, through rather excellent acting and stage production the meaning of the story emerges to surprise. The production begins simply. Stagehands are moving set pieces around and an older gentleman appears to be directing them. As they finish setting the stage the gentleman played by Paul Newman speaks directly to the audience. He introduces the play and describes its setting: Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. The gentleman continues to speak for quite a long time and
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In fact it appears to be pointless. The first act titled Daily life is just that, a retelling of the daily life in Grover’s Corner. The pacing of this act is incredibly slow. Each scene appears to drag on and the narrator’s speeches only serve to slow the production even more. A slow pace and no sense of direction make the start of the performance incredibly hard to sit through. The only good that comes from this act is the stage elements and acting. The lighting is incredible. In one particular scene, as the day comes to night all the characters stop to gaze at what they call a “beautiful moon”. During these scenes the stage is transformed by a beautiful blue light. The moon is not visible to the audience but with that perfect shade of blue light blanketing the stage it’s easy to imagine that “beautiful moon”. The acting is also very good. In fact it is the only thing that hints at any kind of storyline. Thanks to the acting by Fox and Lacey it becomes clear that there will likely be some kind of love interest between their characters. Fox plays the part of a boy with a crush perfectly, stuttering through his words in a nervous manner and coming up with silly excuses just to talk to the Webb’s daughter. These hints materialize in Act two titled Love and Marriage. This act however proves to be much like the first. Slow paced and rather confusing. It remains unclear what the …show more content…
Here the meaning behind everything that was occurred becomes clear. The act begins with a funeral for Emily. She appears dress in white and begins to speak with the narrator. She is able to go back to the world of the living and chooses to return to the day of her 12th birthday. The acting in this scene is impeccable. Emily is a full grown interacting with her parents who the audience assume see her as a twelve year old. She cries as the scene continues. “It’s all going so fast”. With that one line everything becomes clear. The delivery is just right and suddenly the viewer realizes what has occurred. On stage the life of the people Of Grover’s Corner’s unfolded, a life very similar to the one we live today. School, gossip, love, work, death. It all appears trivial and meaningless, that is until it’s no longer there. Only the dead realize what is lost. Those that continue to live remain clueless as to how fast life actually goes by. With one act and one line the Mr. Wilder hammers home his point. Enjoy life, it goes by quicker than you
In fact it appears to be pointless. The first act titled Daily life is just that, a retelling of the daily life in Grover’s Corner. The pacing of this act is incredibly slow. Each scene appears to drag on and the narrator’s speeches only serve to slow the production even more. A slow pace and no sense of direction make the start of the performance incredibly hard to sit through. The only good that comes from this act is the stage elements and acting. The lighting is incredible. In one particular scene, as the day comes to night all the characters stop to gaze at what they call a “beautiful moon”. During these scenes the stage is transformed by a beautiful blue light. The moon is not visible to the audience but with that perfect shade of blue light blanketing the stage it’s easy to imagine that “beautiful moon”. The acting is also very good. In fact it is the only thing that hints at any kind of storyline. Thanks to the acting by Fox and Lacey it becomes clear that there will likely be some kind of love interest between their characters. Fox plays the part of a boy with a crush perfectly, stuttering through his words in a nervous manner and coming up with silly excuses just to talk to the Webb’s daughter. These hints materialize in Act two titled Love and Marriage. This act however proves to be much like the first. Slow paced and rather confusing. It remains unclear what the …show more content…
Here the meaning behind everything that was occurred becomes clear. The act begins with a funeral for Emily. She appears dress in white and begins to speak with the narrator. She is able to go back to the world of the living and chooses to return to the day of her 12th birthday. The acting in this scene is impeccable. Emily is a full grown interacting with her parents who the audience assume see her as a twelve year old. She cries as the scene continues. “It’s all going so fast”. With that one line everything becomes clear. The delivery is just right and suddenly the viewer realizes what has occurred. On stage the life of the people Of Grover’s Corner’s unfolded, a life very similar to the one we live today. School, gossip, love, work, death. It all appears trivial and meaningless, that is until it’s no longer there. Only the dead realize what is lost. Those that continue to live remain clueless as to how fast life actually goes by. With one act and one line the Mr. Wilder hammers home his point. Enjoy life, it goes by quicker than you