21 Jan 2010 07:39
By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
“Our Town” by Thornton Wilder has become a time machine, a string of bench marks for social change. Set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, at the beginning of the 20th century, we all believe the play represents a pretty accurate picture of what life was like in the New England countryside back then – a community that was 86 percent Republican and 85 percent Protestant.
Now the Rogue Theatre brings us a crystal clear and totally heartfelt production, with all the familiar roles nicely done by a talented cast directed by Joseph McGrath. Fidelity to the playwright’s intent is the rule of thumb here. The play was first presented in 1938. A similar time comparison would be seeing a play today about small town New England life set in 1972.
Since the Rogue Theatre is developing its own identity as Tucson’s thoughtful theater company, it seemed a curious choice to produce a threadbare war horse like “Our Town.” The wholesome courtship of George and Emily is so square. The dedicated housewives Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb are so out of touch with today’s females. One doesn’t exactly find the cutting edge of creativity by looking 100 years into the past.
But once the Stage Manager steps onstage and starts talking about what seemed like ordinary life back then, we are forced to consider what our society has become today. In our present fevered state of political correctness, where everyone seems ready to pounce on everyone else for some perceived impropriety, life in Grover’s Corners becomes surprisingly significant.
It is that benchmark thing again. Each person in the audience will be compiling a personal list of pluses and minuses comparing life then and now. What did we gain, what have we lost.
In the play, women’s value in the home as commanders of family life was far more important than women’s worth in the marketplace as individuals working for wages.
Back then all foreigners were regarded with suspicion, too, even the white ones. There was no mingling of the races. There was no welfare, either. Families provided for their own. Church activities were naturally embraced as a part of daily life.
“Our Town” feels controversial now because it reminds us of who we were. You wouldn’t think thoughtful people these days would need to go see “Our Town” with friends, then rush to a coffee shop and talk about it. But that’s exactly what happens.
In some ways, those folksy stories about the families of George and Emily were the Good Old Days….in some ways they weren’t so good. We always need to believe our society is progressing, but what is the cost is this progress? Just because things are changing doesn’t mean they are progressing. So plan, indeed, on seeing “Our Town” with friends and having a spirited discussion afterward.
Among a cast of equally fine performers, Alexandra Franklin as Emily was a little more equal. This newcomer to Tucson’s theater scene makes a remarkable debut, catching the cautious optimism of adolescence at a time when teens thought it was important to act responsibly. The kids in Grover’s Corners were not kids who couldn’t wait to get away from home.
Free thinkers like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have been looked on with suspicion in Grover's Corners. Becky Thatcher would have fit in a little better, however. It is thoughts like these that make Rogue Theatre’s production of “Our Town” worth seeing, and thinking about.
Performances continue Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m., until Jan. 24. All tickets are $24; pay-what-you-will performances are Jan. 14 and 21. For details and reservations, 520-551-2053, or visit www.theroguetheatre.org
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