‘Our Town’: Modern reboot of Wilder’s classic

‘OUR TOWN’: Ephraim Sykes & Zoey Deutch. Photo: Daniel Rader.

OUR TOWN
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Kenny Leon
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
242 West 47th Street
www.ourtownbroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

The latest revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town bears little resemblance to the classic drama often produced in high schools. Director Kenny Leon has reinvented the renowned story set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire into a modern-day look at small-town life that reflects 21^st century America instead of the early 1900s (the original period for the play).

The show opens with characters onstage singing a hymn that combines Jewish prayers in Hebrew, Muslim prayers in Arabic as well as Christian references. The Stage Manager (Jim Parsons) who narrates the story is still an integral part of the show, but Mr. Leon has added many of the touches that European directors insert into American stage classics to give a “new” twist, such as audience members seated on the stage. Characters in the show enter via running down the aisles through the audience and hop on stage. Although these directorial choices are often effective, they may not please purists of the show.

Our Town has always been produced with minimal sets and props, and in this version the biggest part of the set is a group of lanterns hanging above the stage. Minimalism has always been front and center in the play, and director Kenny Leon has trimmed down everything from the sets to the show’s running length. Our Town is a three-act play, but here it has been condensed into a brief one act that runs about 100 minutes. Since there is no intermission, one of the Stage Manager’s classic lines at the end of Act I—“That’s the end of Act I, folks. You can go and smoke, now. Those that smoke”—has, of course, been cut.

Act I focuses on the daily life of people in Grover’s Corners. The Stage Manager talks about the mundane happenings in the town, from births, marriages, deaths, the paper boy’s route, what people eat for breakfast, folks gossiping, and so on. Our Town centers on two families: First, Mr. Webb (Richard Thomas), the local newspaper editor, and Mrs. Webb (Katie Holmes). They have a young son, Wally (Hagan Oliveras) and daughter, Emily (Zoey Deutch). The second family in focus are the Gibbs, including Dr. Gibbs (Billy Eugene Jones) and Mrs. Gibbs (Michelle Williams). The Gibbs also have a son, George (Ephraim Sykes) and daughter, Rebecca (Safiya Kaijya Harris). Emily and George soon develop a budding romance.

Other townsfolk include the gossipy Mrs. Soames (Julie Halston) and choir director Simon Stimson (Donald Webber, Jr.), a man who is also the notorious local alcoholic. In addition, the dairyman Howie Newsome (John McGinty) is deaf, and characters use sign language to communicate with him.

In Act II, it is three years later, and Emily and George are planning to get married. George decides against leaving town to attend college and decides to stay in Grovers Corners to marry Emily. Despite some hesitation, the two eventually wed.

Act III is set nine years later and takes place in a cemetery outside town. Without giving too much away, many townsfolk have died. One died of pneumonia, one of a burst appendix, and another died by suicide. We meet the local undertaker Joe Stoddard (Anthony Michael Lopez) and Sam Craig (Doron Jepaul), a man who has returned to Grover’s Corners for a cousin’s funeral. We soon realize the deceased cousin is one of the play’s main characters. The Stage Manager talks in detail about death and the probability of an afterlife, but without any religious interpretation.

Overall, director Kenny Leon has added many nice touches, such as the smell of bacon wafting out into the audience when Mrs. Webb is cooking breakfast.  Mr. Leon gets primarily effective performances from the cast.  Mr. Parsons is outstanding as the Stage Manager. Mr. Thomas and Ms. Holmes portray a great married couple as Mr. and Mrs. Webb, and the same holds true for Mr. Jones and Ms. Williams as the Gibbs. Ms. Halston is often hilarious as the town busybody Mrs. Soames. Mr. Sykes is believable and often touching in his role as George Gibbs. Ms. Deutch as Emily is consistently good, but her final “good-bye” speech—one of the play’s most iconic moments—comes off somewhat strained. This is hardly the best Our Town revival, but fortunately the modern touches and tweaks do not diminish the timeless story of community and life’s ups and downs in small-town America.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 18, 2024
Reviewed at October 15, 2024 press performance

‘OUR TOWN’: (left to right) Anthony Michael Lopez, Safiya Kaijya Harris, Shyla Lefner, Billy Eugene Jones, Michelle Wilson, Jim Parsons & Katie Holmes. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘OUR TOWN’: Billy Eugene Jones & Michelle Wilson. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘OUR TOWN’: Ephraim Sykes, Katie Holmes & Richard Thomas. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘OUR TOWN’: The cast. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘OUR TOWN’: (left to right) Ephie Aardema Sarnak, Julie Halston, Richard Thomas & Hagan Oliveras. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘OUR TOWN’: Zoey Deutch. Photo: Daniel Rader.