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Thornton Wilders Our Town provides the audience with an informal, intimate and compelling human drama. Wilder was dissatisfied with the unimaginative, stilted theatrical productions of his time: [They] aimed to be soothing. The tragic had no heat; the comic had no bite; the social criticism failed to indict us with responsibility. Our Town, with its far-reaching theme and unmistakable symbolism, was a far cry from the typical bland depression era play (though, ironically, the magic of the mundane is the plays major theme). Though set during the early Twentieth Century, Grover's Corner is anyplace and all places, anytime and all times. A constantly shifting verb tense throughout the play reveals that something strange is happening here with time.
Pantomime and conversation simultaneously enact lifes continuum of time and place. The principal actor is the Stage Manager, who remains on stage the entire time explaining much of the action. He is aware of the present, and privy to both the past and the future. He knows the characters feelings, and alternately takes on the roles of narrator, philosophical druggist, host, master of ceremonies, commentator and friend to the audience. Wilder creates types rather than individuals in 0 ur Town.
Every audience member can say, Yes, I know someone like that. Hes just like so-and-so, or I know what he is feeling. Ive felt that way myself. This sense of recollection permeates the play to both thrill and haunt us with reminders of our common and fragile humanity- By using the barest of scenery and props, Wilder reinforces that our hopes and despairs and loves begin and end not with things, but in the mind and the soul, as our lives unfold through one another.
This focus on absolute reality allows us to see Emily's simplest pleasures and cares (algebra lessons, birthday presents, etc. ) through child-like eyes. Her timelessness helps the audience understand, just as she herself comes to understand, the seamless relationship between past, present and future. Her commonplace experiences (marriage, family) contrast sharply with her death experience, where she finally comes to appreciate the commonplace. The play motivates the audience to treasure everyday life just as it is.
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Research essay sample on Audience Time Play
