Pontine Does Our Town

OUR TOWN comes to life in Pontine Theatre’s thoughtful and loving rendition of Thornton Wilder’s classic portrait of small town, NH life.  Inspired by Peterborough at the turn of the twentieth century, the play’s nostalgic charm underscores the enduring appeal of living in such a long-settled area.  See details below for West End Studio Theatre performance in downtown Portsmouth, January 28 -- February 6.  (Continued below)  

 

 

In OUR TOWN, Wilder succinctly captures the sense of layers of generations that pervades all New England towns and forms so much of the character of communities here.

Through an examination of the minutiae of daily routine, Wilder provides his audience with a perspective on the great issues of life: time and social history, memory and identity, family and community, spirituality and death.  Brooks Atkinson, in his review of OUR TOWN”’s first performance, wrote:  “Mr. Wilder has transmuted the simple events of human life into universal reverie.  He has given familiar facts a deeply moving, philosophical perspective.”  First produced and performed in 1938, at which time it won the Pulitzer Prize, this drama of life in the rural village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire has become an American classic and is Thornton Wilder’s most reknowned and most frequently performed play.

Many critics believe the play remains popular because of its humanistic ideas — particularly Wilder’s plea for the appreciation of the moment.  His basic theme emerges from the structuring of the three acts, which interweave the stages of life.

 

Act I dwells on the commonplace.  It emphasizes dawn, birth, and the beginnings of a young love that will develop into marriage in the second act.  All of these scenes seem to be of trivial events, but later their full significance becomes clear.  As Wilder points out, most people live the first act of their lives without relishing the pricelessness of inconsequential encounters, such as greeting townspeople, getting an education, or eating breakfast with family members.

Act II presents the second cycle of daily life in a town.  People grow up, fall in love, and marry.  Wilder depicts the process through a typical boy and girl “next door” who disclose their love for each other, then marry.  Symbolically, Wilder causes this single example — the union of Emily Webb and George Gibbs — to represent all of humanity.  In this fashion, he celebrates love and the simple verities that pertain to the bonding between man and woman.

In the natural flow of events, Act III presents the idea of death.  It opens in a cemetery, but transcends morbid by emphasizing the beauty of the location, normal rituals of grieving, eternity, and immortality.  To make his point about the goodness of the earth, Wilder has the cemetery’s newest tenant, Emily Gibbs, revisit the past in a vision, reflecting on home-life from the view of the dead.  She discovers that the living are beguiled by a false sense of permanence and are too preoccupied with trivialities to savor humble, mundane events.

In OUR TOWN, Wilder succeeds in re-creating the sublime quality of everyday living.  Without moralizing, he imparts to viewers that there is something worthy and noble about their lives.  He stresses the simple decency of family relationships.  In this way, he dignifies homely details that might otherwise be taken for granted, such as the ironing of a school dress or the stringing of beans for winter meals, or the placement of a bouquet on a grave.

In OUR TOWN, a fruitful life — even though it receives no extravagant praise from the outside world — bears witness to its own intrinsic worth.  It satisfies without fanfare.  Ultimately, it concludes — by accident or disease or whatever means death brings it to a close — and transforms itself into a transcendent peace, devoid of recrimination or sadness.

Performances are Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4pm, and Sundays at 2 pm, with an additional performance on Saturday, January 29 at 8pm.  Tickets are $24 ($3 discount for seniors and students) and may be purchased at the group’s Web site Pontine.org.  WEST is located at 959 Islington Street; the theatre is fully accessible with private parking.  For more information, call (603)436-6660.

Serving the Seacoast since 1977, Pontine Theatre has developed a sterling reputation for high quality performances and educational programs.  With an impressive repertoire of innovative, original productions, the company serves both its home town, Portsmouth, NH and New England and neighboring states.     

At the West End Studio Theatre, an at-home performance series showcases all of the company's premieres and the works of a national roster of guest artists.  Two things unite the wide range of work presented in Pontine's at-home performance series: all use expression through movement as a primary dramatic vehicle and all are original works created by the artists who perform them.  Pontine is committed to presenting a diverse range of voices on its stage, and a full-range of movement styles.  The 2010-11 Performance Series includes: Judith Black in RETIRING THE CHAMP, Pontine Theatre in A POETS’ CHRISTMAS, Pontine’s staging of Thornton Wilder’s OUR TOWN, Concrete Temple Theatre in THE WHALE, and an original adaptation by Pontine Theatre of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES.      

Pontine Theatre is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts

Photo caption: Pontine Co-Directors, Greg Gathers & Marguerite Mathews in their staging of Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN.