26-27 Proposal: Our Town
- Majestic Marketing
- May 19
- 2 min read
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Leigh Matthews Bock
Show Synopsis
About Our Town: Presents the small town of Grover’s Corners in three acts: Daily Life, Love and Marriage, and Death and Eternity. Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal sets, the play depicts the simple daily lives of the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually - in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre – die.
Vision Statement
For me, the timeless themes of belonging, life, love, and death, along with the play's sheer adaptability due to minimal set and props and the ability for diverse casting, continue to allow the story to resonate with audiences from various generations and cultures.
I would be looking for a diverse group of 15–18 actors of various ages between 12 and 80 that includes a small ensemble playing several smaller roles and three actors that can play between the ages of 12 and 14. Traditionally the Stage Manager role has gone to male-presenting actors as well as 2-3 other male-named roles; I am completely open.
I would stay true to Wilder's vision of no set (few set pieces only) and use light and sound cues to help portray locations and what is happening. The back brick wall would be the backdrop, and the chairs, tables, and ladders would be painted a weathered gray or brown.
The play is set in the early 1900s. I plan to avoid completely authentic 1900s costumes and instead collaborate with the costumer to stylize Edwardian clothing, focusing on high-neck blouses, ankle- or shin-length skirts, suspenders, sweater vests, trousers, and other similar items. I do not want the story so far removed with period costumes that it is hard for the audience to relate. We would use various shades of blue, yellow, green, cream, and brown (or gray if we paint the set pieces a weathered brown) for the costumes.
The timeless themes of belonging, life, love, and death, along with the play's sheer adaptability due to minimal set and props, allow the story to resonate with audiences from various cultures and generations.
