Our Town by Thornton Wilder - The Woodland Opera House

Our Town

By Thornton Wilder

Director: Anna Miles

Producer: The Woodland Opera House

https://woodlandoperahouse.org/



Auditions will be held by appointment on:

Monday, October 18th beginning at 5:00 PM (Meeting Room, Woodland Opera House, 340 2nd Street, Woodland, CA 95695)

Tuesday, October 19th beginning at 5:00 PM (Woodland Opera House Theatre and Dance Annex aka TADA, 520 Court St, Woodland, CA 95695)



Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4dafa62ba3fcce9-ourtown



note: you only need to attend one audition day



You will be reading sides from the show, which will be provided upon appointment sign-up. If you sing or play any instruments, we’d love to see that at your audition as well, but it is not required! Youth and Adult performers (age 10+) of all ages, sizes, ethnic and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities are strongly encouraged to audition.



Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, October 20th beginning at 6:00 PM (Meeting Room, Woodland Opera House, 340 2nd Street, Woodland, CA 95695)



Rehearsals will be held Sun-Thurs, 6:00-10:00 PM, Dec 1 2021 – Jan 21 2022

Additional days off for the holidays include 12/22-12/27 (12/31 and 1/1 fall on Friday and Saturday, our regular days off)

Tech: Sun, Jan 23, 1:00-7:00 PM (possibly later), Mon-Thurs, Jan 24-27, 6:00-10:30 PM.



Performances will run January 28-February 27 2022, Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2:00 PM with a school outreach show on February 3rd at 9:30 am.



Rehearsals will practice COVID safety for all involved.





Synopsis



A landmark in American drama, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town tells the story of a small town at the turn of the century, Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Narrated by the “Stage Manager”, we follow the Gibbs and Webb families, residents of Grover’s Corners, through twelve years of life changes — from the mundane in Act I, “Daily Life,” to the romantic in Act II, “Love and Marriage,” to the bittersweet in Act III, “Death and Eternity.” The play was revolutionary when it was first produced in 1938, challenging the conventions of realism and theatrical storytelling- this 2022 production will breath fresh life and fresh revolution into this old classic, reworking the staging and storytelling to challenge the theatrical conventions of today. While Our Town is often professed to be a play about “universal truths,” a story about “all of America,” there’s only so much limited truth a story about a small white East Coast town in the 1900s can offer modern audiences. But with the help of a dedicated and diverse ensemble of creators, the Woodland Opera House will reckon with the text to tell a powerful modern tale of the complications of nostalgia and the need to continue always moving forward in our social progress.





Character Breakdown



STAGE MANAGER: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity between the ages of 25+. The narrator and orchestrator of the play with a strong presence and command of space; this character holds the action and the storytelling in the palm of their hands. Good memorization and vocal skills a must.



THE GIRL: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 10-16, to play a girl of around 10–12 years. a young girl who assists the stage manager, and who represents the future, the ceaseless passage of time, nature, and the next generation in the play: she will be onstage the entire show, guiding and affecting the characters as they traverse the story, the fresh voice who will help bring this 1930s play into the 21st century. Strong stage presence and stamina required- singing skills a bonus.



EMILY WEBB: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 16-30, to play a young woman of 15-25. A young woman growing up in Grover’s Corners. Emily is very much the heart of the play. She has an open, curious spirit and an understanding of humanity which deepens before the audience’s eyes over the course of the story. Emily is studious and intelligent, unafraid to speak her mind, and concerned with cultivating an image of sophistication and maturity. She requires a strong command of poetic language. Singing skills and/or any other musical skills a bonus, but not required.



GEORGE GIBBS: Male or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 16-30, to play a boy/man of 15-25. A teenage boy who grows into a young man, all the while fitting into the all-American fine-upstanding-boy mold with seeming perfection. He is a high school baseball star with dreams of becoming a farmer- he struggles in school, but not for lack of trying. His relationship with Emily, and his subsequent grief over losing her, forces George to push back against his comfortable mold and form a new, more complex understanding of his own humanity.



REBECCA GIBBS: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 12-18, to play a girl around the age of 12. Rebecca is George’s spunky younger sister, who has a pragmatic and sophisticated, if somewhat cynical, view of life. She is keenly aware of the power structures at play around her and quietly collects the capital (namely, money and beauty), that will most help her succeed within these structures. Not everyone in her family understands her, but that’s ok- she’s going places, and she’s going there fast. The rest of them will catch up eventually.



WALLY WEBB: Male or Any Gender of any race and ethnicity, ages 12-18, to play a 13-year-old. Emily’s younger brother (or sister!), who keeps being pushed into his/her older sister’s shadow, but who is determined not to stay there.



MR. WEBB: Male or Non-Binary actor or any race and ethnicity, ages 35+, to play a man in his 40s-50s. the editor of the town paper and Emily’s father, Mr. Webb is a sensitive soul who fancies himself a “modern type of man,” and while he mostly succeeds at fulfilling this persona, he can’t help but fall back into some old fashioned Grover’s Corners ways from time to time.



MRS. WEBB: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 35+, to play a woman in her 40s-50s. Mrs. Webb prides herself on being eminently practical and efficient, but she has her own poetic and romantic notions in spite of herself. Despite her conviction in maintaining a no-nonsense demeanor, Mrs. Webb is deeply empathetic, and often finds herself on the receiving end of heart-to-hearts, whether she wants to be there or not (mostly she does).



MR. GIBBS: Male or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 35+, to play a man in his 40s-50s. George’s father and the town doctor, and a Civil War buff. He and his family are neighbors to the Webbs. He loves his family and his wife, but is a bit of a workaholic.



MRS. GIBBS: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 35+, to play a woman in her 40s-50s. Mrs. Gibbs loves her children, George and Rebecca, more than anything in the world, and loathes the day they must grow up and leave her nest. Despite this, she has an appreciation and yearning for life beyond Grover’s Corners- an artist lying dormant, Mrs. Gibbs dreams of seeing Paris, or anywhere else where no one speaks her language. She is simultaneously contented to stay where she is and eager to move beyond her current circumstances and her community’s conventions.



HOWIE NEWSOME/PROFESSOR WILLARD/JOE STODDARD: Male or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, to play a man between the ages of 40+. The jovial milkman who welcomes the birth of each new day, a relic of a history professor who lives in the town’s esoteric past, and the town cemetery undertaker who ushers the citizens to their final resting places, respectively; one actor will oscillate between these three characters, each of whom represents a different facet of the older generation in Grover’s Corners.







JOE CROWELL/SI CROWELL/SAM CRAIG: Male or Any Gender of any race and ethnicity, ages 13-20. One young actor to play three different young men (or women!) Two of these characters are the town’s newspaper delivery boys/girls, and one is a young man/woman returning home to Grover’s Corners after a time away.



MRS. SOAMES: Female or Non-Binary actor of any race and ethnicity, ages 35+. A bit of a busy body, whose usually well-intentioned concerns tend to fall into the trap of imagined moral superiority over her neighbors.



SIMON/SIMONE STIMSON: Any Gender, of any race and ethnicity, ages 25+. The local choir leader, and the local drunk. Simon’s coping mechanisms may be less than ideal, but his/her bitter views aren’t necessarily unfounded. Simon recognizes the follies of human existence- an important perspective in the play, and in the world. Ability to play a musical instrument (preferably guitar) is preferred but not required.







Come make some magic with us – we hope to see you there!


Salary: Unpaid