BWW Reviews: Little Theatre of Manchester Brings OUR TOWN to Our Town

Growing up in Amherst, New Hampshire, I lived in a classic New England, colonial village, not unlike the fictional town of Grover's Corners sketched by Thornton Wilder in his masterpiece, Our Town. Although I am not old enough to recollect the turn of the 20^th century when the work is set, that sense of knowing pretty much everyone in town, keeping your doors unlocked, and three-square meals a day enjoyed by the family around the table, is familiar to me.

Because Our Town can seem quaintly all-American and a relic of a bygone era, one may be tempted to look at it as an exercise in nostalgia. Rather than a languid stroll down memory lane, Our Town actually serves as a warning against embracing nostalgia, to live in the now. While colonial New Hampshire is a memory for me, Manchester, Connecticut is my now. As such, it is interesting how to see how Our Town plays in "the City of Village Charm."

Little Theatre of Manchester's new production, under the capable direction of Debi Freund, certainly draws your mind to how life here has changed. How many of us lock our doors, fear the police, or avoid our neighbors? Is a trip to Target a substitute for milk delivery and a stroll to the general store? The elegant mid-19^th century Cheney Hall may transport you back to a "simpler time", but Our Town is really about the juxtaposition of the big events that make us fret and forget to live richly in the small, seemingly forgettable moments. These things are more evergreen than, say, Evergreen Walk, a false downtown.

For those who have never visited Grover's Corners, the play is a three-act slice of life. The first act, "Daily Life," begins with a birth and follows two neighboring families - the Gibbs and the Webbs - as they go through the motions of breakfast through bed time. The second act, "Love and Marriage," centers around the courtship and wedding of George Gibbs and Emily Webb. The third act, "Death and Eternity," finds the residents of the town in the cemetery, some in the grave and others mourning.

This is where this sly play makes us realize that the life (and death) lessons of a small town in New Hampshire, population roughly 3,000, are the same over a century later in a small city in Connecticut, population 50,000-plus. Audiences in New York (population 8 million-plus) discovered this same truism with a recent David Cromer-helmed Our Town revival.

The cast is uniformly solid, although some performances show more color than others. As the iconic "Stage Manager," Mark O'Donnell serves as a tour guide of not only the town, but the lives of its inhabitants. Handsome and well-spoken, O'Donnell capably handles both the tiny details and the metaphysical observations. With the exception of the moment when he plays a soda jerk, O'Donnell's performance lacks a bit of the twinkle and dry New England charm the part requires. The Stage Manager is more than a narrator, he is a character, and hopefully O'Donnell will take the remaining performances to find out exactly who this man is.

Similarly, some of the leads are a bit flat in their interpretations of the town's residents. For Our Town to succeed, we have to warmly identify with everyone - from the newspaper editor down to the town drunk. The most accomplished performances come from some of the younger actors, in particular the production's winning George and Emily, David Lopes and Erin Williams, who both turn in natural and honest takes on their characters. Standouts in smaller roles are Doug Stoyer as Professor Willard, Ken Adamson as Simon Stimson, Amanda Fox as Rebecca Gibbs, and Debbie Gustafson as the town biddy, Mrs. Soames.

The lighting design by Kelly Hougland and sound design by Ronald Schallack are the finest I have experienced at Cheney Hall. Hougland expertly and warmly lights the stage, while Schallack's sound elements, from hooting owls to newspapers landing on lawns, vividly draws us into the world of the play which is, in essence, our world. The costumes, designed by Julie Waxman, are lovely and appropriate to the period.

Little Theatre of Manchester's production adheres pretty much to Thornton Wilder's requirement for a Spartan setting. Ladders, trellises and a few tables and chairs pretty much comprise the scenic design, per the playwright's instruction. Director Freund takes two liberties that are both fitting. The first, she makes Cheney Hall's historic organ a breathtaking backdrop for two key scenes. Organist Rimas Polikaitis actually plays the instrument, something I have heretofore not experienced in the space. The second, I will not spoil, but suffice it to say, it will make you hungry for mom's home cooking. And therein lies the conflicting message of the play, how do you move forward when it always seems safer to look back?

Our Town
by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Debi Freund
Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester CT through April 28.
www.cheneyhall.org

Photo of David Lopes and Erin Williams by Chris Heustis of Photosynthesis.

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