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October 2, 2015
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Marywood presents reknowned drama ‘Our Town’ by Christopher Cornell ADVANTAGE EDITOR
The playwright “is reminding the audience of how precious daily life is,” a critic wrote. He was talking about Thornton Wilder’s classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Our Town.” The play debuted in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1938, before moving to Broadway, where the New York Times called it “one of the finest achievements of the current stage … a hauntingly beautiful play.” Marywood University’s department of music, theatre and dance will present “Our Town,” Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3, at 7:30 p.m., in the Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts, on the university’s campus. Tickets are $10; $8 for seniors; $6 for students, and admission is free with a valid Marywood ID. “Our Town,” considered by many to be one of the masterpieces of the American theater, explores the lives of the citizens of a small fictional American town called Grover’s Corners, early in the last century. The play is divided into three parts, representing three different aspects of the human experience: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death and Loss.” The play is being guest-directed by Maura Malloy, who has directed several previous Marywood productions. “Two years ago they asked me to direct a production of ‘A Little Night Music,’” she said. “Since then I’ve directed a children’s production and I will be directing another production as part of the school’s 100th anniversary celebration.” The process of selecting “Our Town,” was pretty straightforward, she noted. “They came to me with suggestions, I came to them with suggestions, and it really came down to a bit of a consensus.” Wilder envisioned his play as being very stark
From left: Dana Jackson, Kenneth Doyle and Jade Litaker, will perform in Marywood University’s production of “Our Town.”
and spare, with no real sets and only rudimentary objects on stage. For example, the actors pantomime the objects with which they interact. In one famous scene, in which two characters are conversing through the upstairs windows of their separate homes, the two actors are simply standing atop two ladders, meant to represent their neighboring houses. For Wilder, it was about getting to the heart of the human experience. He once said: “Our claim, our hope, our despair are in the mind, not in things, not in ‘scenery.’” At Marywood, the students are studying movement, and the simplicity of the play stresses that, Malloy said. “One of the most important issues we considered when choosing this play was what the students need. It’s a lot of pantomime and stylized movement, and that touched on what the students were looking for.”
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Malloy also said the play is being performed on a campus that is very aware of its centennial. “Marywood was founded in 1915, and the play takes place, in part, in 1915,” Malloy said. “So it’s forward-thinking and yet grounded in that early part of 20th century, much as the university is.” Malloy said she has seen — and performed in — other productions of the play and admits she finds something new in it each time. “It’s one of those plays that, the older you get, the better it gets,” she said. “I read once that almost every day, “Our Town” is being produced somewhere, and I think that’s because it’s so universal, and so economically written. Wilder has the ability to, in one sentence, capture so much. “It’s one of the best dramas ever written for the American theater.” Call 570-348-6211, ext. 6097 to purchase tickets in advance. Credit card payments will not be accepted at the door.
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