Review: OUR TOWN at Zao Theatre in Apache Junction

The most producible classic American play thankfully is one of its best. Thorton Wilder claimed that the metatheatrical lack of scenery, props, and fourth wall in OUR TOWN was a response to his dissatisfaction with the state of American theatre at the time. Those conventions also assured its posterity.

OUR TOWN can be performed on a small budget and just as importantly, the key roles are played by either teenagers or people of retirement age, two demographics with a deep bench in community theatre. It's more than just a mini-vacation for the production team though. It's emotionally impactful and it's philosophically revelatory.

Mid Act One, the play's narrator (referred to as the "Stage Manager") tells us a new bank has begun construction and that he is going to bury a copy of OUR TOWN under the marble cornerstone "(so) the people one thousand years from now'll know a few simple facts about us." But that's completely unnecessary, being a worthy staple of educational and community theatre is a better time capsule than any archaeological dig. Zao Theatre in Apache Junction delivers an enjoyable production running through April 13th.

Bright performances all over the cast overcome a somewhat somber treatment of the play. It's entertaining, earnest, and avoids oversentimentality, but it seems to miss the distinction between tragic and moving.

**SPOILERS AHEAD** After spending Acts One and Two in a full-on campaign to have us madly rooting for young Emily Webb (here, in a simple, sincere, unassuming, delightful performance by Sarah Stinocher), Wilder begins Act Three nine years later just after Emily's death in childbirth. The rest of the play takes place in a life/afterlife concurrence at the town's cemetery where Emily runs a philosophical maze leading to "oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. (to Stage Manager) Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? every, every minute?"

It's a beautiful, masterfully crafted, balanced, healthy play calling for reflection and appreciation. I could tell a person, "Don't take life for granted." Or I could send them to see a production of OUR TOWN. Zao's production focuses on the sad facts of the tale at the expense of the message. It tells spins the narrative into a "Based on a True Story" feel. It pulls on our heart strings (and effectively!) but that wasn't Wilder's goal. The lack of props, scenery, etc. is meant to never let the audience forget it is fiction.

Excellent performances though are the key to this production's value. Mathew Cary nails the dry, unpushed humor of Dr. Gibbs, especially during his cloaked shaming of George for skipping chores.

D. Ann Jones as Mrs. Soames is a scene stealing wonder, smart in depiction and charm. David Herbert's Professor Willard is well-performed and well-cast. Taylor Dahl as George Gibbs is endearing and his scenes with Emily are the best in the play.

It's Mickey Bryce as the Stage Manager though that really plays hardball. An auditory doppelganger of Gene Hackman, Mr. Bryce is a gifted and compelling speaker. His leathery voice shapes and shines the Stage Manager's rich, descriptive monologues. After seeing him as Colonel Jessup in A FEW GOOD MEN at Zao Theatre two years ago, I was so pleased to discover he was playing the role.

However, his performance in OUR TOWN suffers from that pesky dark interpretation. If Emily's revelations in Act Three are a theology, the Stage Manager is its Pastor. We should come to realize that the Stage Manager's incredible attention to detail in his descriptions of Grover's Corners were not just quaint small-town observations, but him practicing Emily's discovered belief in appreciating every thing and every moment.

But this Stage Manager doesn't seem to do that. He's pushing the empathy button rather than the inspiration lever. When Emily asks him about any humans realizing life he says, "No. The saints and poets maybe." This pivotal exchange plays like the Stage Manager confirming that life is unfixably sad. He certainly consoles Emily in her crisis but the Stage Manager, more than any person in the building, is fully and entirely aware that Emily is a fictional character and that our attention must shift from her fictional plight to her passionate, non-fictional message.

It's been his goal all evening to bring Emily's posthumous realization into the real world. Only moments earlier, living humans appreciating every detail of life was considered unlikely, if not impossible. But here we are in a large room of people with this message laid in their lap. We want to leave with a shot in the arm, not a heavy heart.

OUR TOWN is like that movie that isn't in your top 20 but somehow you always stop on when flipping channels. The performances keep Zao's production kicking, but the dark take (and I mean literally, too. The cemetery scene is so dimly lit, I couldn't tell who was talking sometimes.) on the show keeps the show from its full potential.

OUR TOWN runs through April 13th at Zao Theatre in Apache Junction, AZ.

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