Our Town
The second show of
Academy Players 55th season is Thorton Wilder's, 1938 Pulitzer
Prize winning play "Our Town". Academy Players returns to its
roots with this show, having used the Varnum Armory during their
first few years. The show tells about life in "Grover's Corners,
New Hampshire from 1901 to 1913. This version is intimate,
engaging and timely. It features a female stage manager who not
only explains the action of the characters but she becomes part
of the show itself. Through the use of flashbacks, dialogue and
direct monologues, the other characters reveal themselves to the
audience and walk throughout the audience, interacting with them
at times. Director Rachel Nadeau picks the best 14 people for
these roles and molds them into these townsfolk that everyone
can identify with. She has them pantomiming the props and
handles the transition from scene to scene beautifully. Rachel
makes its message of live each day to its fullest ring true in
the 21st Century, too. Her hard working stage manager, Sejohn
Serowik keeps things running smoothly all night long.
Pretty blonde,
Danielle Best is dynamic as the stage manager. She plays her
part with great energy and conviction, commanding the stage in
this role. Danielle sets up the scenes of the show and tells the
other characters what to do. She plays all her character roles
excellently, moving in and out of the scenes with ease. The
main characters of "Our Town" are George Gibbs, a doctor's son
and Emily Webb, a daughter of a newspaper editor. The play
covers their life together from childhood to courtship and
marriage to death with the funeral at show's end. They are next
door neighbors who in Act 1, look at the moon and stars together
from their respective homes. Rachel has them use the tops of the
two tables as the upstairs of their homes.) Michael Shallcross
does a wonderful job, transforming himself from young boy, to
teen and finally into adulthood. He handles the dramatic and
comic moments with the ease of a veteran performer. Michael's
nervousness at the wedding and his talk with his in-laws on the
same day are very funny. His crying at the grave scene putting
his head on Emily's lap at the end of the show is
outstanding. Candice Christiansen, a pretty brunette, plays
Emily and shines in this role. She makes you laugh at her young
girl antics in Act 1 and then tears your heart out with the
poignant graveyard revelation scene in Act 3. (Rachel uses a
film to show Emily her 12th birthday when she comes back for the
last scene and then a scrim to show her parents on that day so
she can enter the scene.) Her relationship with Michael as
George comes through strongly especially in the argument, soda
shop and wedding scene in Act 2.
The roles of the
parents are played wonderfully, too. Both Constanze Almonte as
Mrs. Webb and Valerie Tarantino as Mrs. Gibbs do incredible work
in their miming, cooking the breakfast scenes. They actually
look like they are using real food in them. Constanze and
Valerie also show the warmth between mother and child and
husband and wife throughout the show. Alan McLaughlin as Dr.
Gibbs and Ed Cure as Mr. Webb play their roles well, too. Alan
has a funny scene with his son when he tells him that he
mother has been chopping the wood when it is George's
responsibility and Ed has one on his daughter's wedding day by
telling George what his father told him. Mr. Webb didn't listen
to his father, leading to a successful marriage. The younger
siblings are well played by Paige Frankovich as the pesky,
Rebecca Gibbs who bothers her brother when he flirts with Emily
at his bedroom window and Witt Tarantino as Wally Webb. Two
scene stealers in this show are Kevin Thibault as Simon Stimson,
the drunken choir director. He directs them, yells at them and
conducts them in "Blessed Be The Ties That Bind" which leads to
many laughs. The other scene stealer is Marie Hennedy as Mrs.
Soames who gossips with the ladies after choir rehearsal and in
another tells the audience what a lovely wedding it is during
the sacred vows of the couple during the ceremony. Rounding out
the cast is Devon Decker as the constable, Sierra Fetzer as Joe
Crowell and Elizabeth Tarantino as a townsperson. So for a trip
back to the past, be sure to catch "Our Town".
OUR TOWN ( 19 to 28 February, 2010)
Academy Players,Varnum Armory,6 Main Street, East Greenwich, RI
1(401)885-6910 or www.academyplayers.org