Review: OUR TOWN at Argenta Community Theatre

When a classic is performed, if it isn't delivered correctly, it can be rather confusing. This, however, was not the case for OUR TOWN, which is going on now through March 19, at the Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main Street, in North Little Rock. This play is offered as part of the ACANSA - Arts Festival of the South. OUR TOWN is one of many events that are playing in Little Rock and North Little Rock through March 25th. For more information and tickets, visit acansa.org.

This was my third or fourth viewing of an OUR TOWN production, and by far the most understandable. The group of actors at the Argenta were purposeful, intentional, and they took their time to tell the story. Don't tell my eighth-grade English teacher, but I didn't read the book, so there have been holes in other productions that were filled at the Argenta.

Written by Thornton Wilder in 1937, OUR TOWN takes a look at normal small-town life at the turn of the century in this play within a play. During it's time, Wilder wanted to break away from what was being presented and get back to the basics of play production, including having a minimalist set. Though there may have been more to the set than originally stated by the author, Director Ben Grimes really grasped the vision of this play and the objective was achieved. The beat of the play really set this production apart from my past viewings. In fact, the beat of this production resembled the beat in actual life and forced me to examine my role in my own life. What I'm saying is....it hit home.

OUR TOWN is an extremely popular play to produce, and I loved it when The Stage Manager (Brandon Paul Eells) said that he knew there were options on which OUR TOWN to see, and they are happy we chose theirs (ACT). Breaking the fourth wall, the Stage Manager walks the audience through three acts: Daily Life, Love and Marriage, and Death and Eternity. He brings in "experts" to talk about statistics of life in Grover's Corner and the world during the early 1900s, and takes on a few of the characters during the story telling. The play focuses on two main families: Dr. And Mrs. Gibbs (Duane Jackson and Laura Grimes) with children Rebecca and George Gibbs (Sela Booher and Caleb Allen) and Mr. And Mrs. Webb (Wyatt Hamilton and Verda Davenport-Booher) and children Emily and Wally Webb (Finley Daniel and Alex Hurdle). Though the story is centered, mostly, around George and Emily, there are several other colorful characters that bring the town to life, and in the end, it encourages the audience to really appreciate their world.

When I watch a play of this caliber, I watch for character commitment and chemistry. I enjoyed watching the relationship grow between Emily and George (Daniel and Allen); watching the Stage Manager take charge of the story telling was fascinating to see; also, Ben Barham, who played Simon Stimson, really committed to his drunkenness and disgust for people to the very end.

For more information on this show and upcoming shows, visit argentacommunitytheater.org.

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