Our Town characters gather for the wedding of Emily Webb and George Gibbs, center, played by Jeanna Breza and Colton Pitstick. Other community cast members are, from left, in back, Duard Headley III, Lara Bentley, Thor Sage, Howard Shook, Thomas Siebold; in front, Lucas Sansom, Sarah Wildman, Ellen Ballerene; behind the couple is Ali Thomas; on right is Robert Campbell, Juno Shemano and Miriam Eckenrode. (Photo by Megan Bachman)
‘Our Town’ opens this weekend
- Published: June 21, 2012
Thornton Wilder may have had a place like Yellow Springs in mind when he wrote his 1938 play Our Town. Though originally set in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in the early 1900s, this time it will take place in the village of Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 2012, complete with references to Glen Helen and modern dress.
“The approach that we’re taking is that Our Town is our town,” said Lorrie Sparrow, who will direct a two-weekend run of the Center Stage production on June 22–23 and 29–30 at 8 p.m. in Westminster Hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Yellow Springs, 314 Xenia Avenue. Tickets are $10 at the door. Pre-show music begins 7:15 p.m. And audience members should dress in comfortable clothing since Westminster Hall is not air-conditioned.
But those who remember Our Town as folksy, old-fashioned and sentimental will be surprised.
“It’s about as sentimental as a slap in the face,” and the play is as relevant today as the day it was written, said Sparrow.
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