“Whenever you come near the human race there’s lots and lots of nonsense”. That chestnut is uttered by Jim Parsons as the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. I have never had an opportunity to see this famous play performed. This revival, directed by Kenny Lyon, is excellent from start to mesmerizing finish.
A Pulitzer Prize winner, this incisive drama brilliantly incorporates metatheatrical devices. The Stage Manager hosts the audience, comments on the action and occasionally performs a character. Over three acts (here performed without intermissions) the American small town of Grover’s Corner will showcase the ordinariness of the human condition and also its universality.
People have their everyday jobs like milk delivery guy and town newspaper editor. Some in school are growing up and falling in love. The town alcoholic is known. Class and position in society, religious demographics and the lack of culturally broadening perspectives are topics chewed on. There are so many timeless themes in this 1938 study of who and what we are.
Not knowing the play to any extent I was treated to the superlative surprise that is Act III. Everything staged before built to a thrillingly thoughtful critique on life, death and what we do with the molecules holding us together while we visit this Earth. What is the purpose of all of this? Our Town doesn’t answer that question completely but instead invites us to Grover’s Corner to contemplate everything from the mundane to the otherworldly.
Mr. Parsons is in confident command of this large cast who each excel in this contemplative, swirling, often funny dissection. As the young couple brimming with the promises of life ahead, Ephraim Sykes and understudy Emily Webb shine brightly with demonstrable chemistry. Their Act III moments are, therefore, powerfully realized.
This talented group includes Michelle Wilson, Billy Eugene Jones, Richard Thomas and Julie Halston. The show was cast diversely and there is not a second of self-acknowledgement of that choice. This material can be and should be absorbed by everyone.
I am struck by a visit to the simpler times in Grover’s Corner. Our American small towns seem far more complicated now given the dynamics of a century of changes – for the better and the worse. I wonder what the residents would think of the the presidential candidate who pantomimed fellatio with a microphone last week? Savior? Fucked up freak? That the human race is overwhelmed by “lots and lots of nonsense” is indisputable.
Thornton Wilder’s play is a still relevant gem. The piece is wildly theatrical and laser sharp in confronting its audience about the meaning, value and gift of life. This production of Our Town is highly recommended especially if, like me, you’ve never taken the trip before.
Our Town is running on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre through January 19, 2024.