Is "Our Town" the most boring play? — Page 2

Question....did your teacher only assign the first two acts or is that all you got through? Because if your teacher didn't give you the third act to read, it's all your teacher's fault.

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Was Chekhov's "The Seagull" not in contention?

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It is, without question, my favorite play.

I recently saw a production at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia in which we actually left the theatre building, moved to the century-old Christ Church next door, interacting with the cast along the way, and witnessed the wedding happen in the chapel. The boys playing ball beat on the windows of the church from the outside...the church itself is restored, but still in its original state...it was absolutely breathtaking. One of the most unbelivable nights i have ever experienced.

Act III, we returned to the theatre, and it lost some of its power - the magic of being in the church for act II could not be matched. i remember hearing that the original concept was to have act III outside in the graveyard of the Church, which would have been staggering, but due to rain concerns, they held it back in the theatre. Still brilliant though. A gorgeous multicultural colorblind cast only madeit even stronger.

I missed the Cromer production. One of the biggest regrets of my life.

Updated On: 6/15/12 at 11:58 PM

One of the finest plays ever written. Overwhelmingly moving and unquestionably theatrical.

Our Town is one of the Great American plays. It is not boring. The play looks simple, but it is not. Directing and acting it are hard. I loved the 1989 Lincoln Center production with Spalding Gray as the Stage Manager. The production caught the pain in the script. Go to this link on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLWewZO6z1w

Once I grew to love this piece as an adult, I was kind of mad that I was forced to read it as a teenager who could never have tapped into the metaphysical layer where it's power lives.

What do people here think? Should high school students be force fed this play?

Updated On: 6/15/12 at 01:35 AM

My English teacher didn't make us read plays, she showed us videos of them. That drew a lot of criticism from people I remember, but I do think that's the best way to do it in schools if video is available, ESPECIALLY Shakespeare.

The problem with teaching "Our Town" to younger students is that they take it literally. They look at the individual scenes and the "pedestrian" dialogue, and they don't get that it's about anything. It seems like ordinary people discussing ordinary things in "olden days."

So what?!

But "Our Town" is a play about ideas, not situations. It's about the human experience, not about a day in the life of some old-fashioned townspeople.

To get younger students to see past the "literal" and grasp the larger ideas being presented is to ask these students to think a different way than most of them (not all) are used to.

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Awwww Mister Katimski! I admit, I finally tracked down Our Town back when MSCL first aired because of that amazing episode. I wouldn't put it above some of my fave plays by, say, Williams (probably just because I tend to go for that kind of emotionalism more), but it is a really moving play. And I think it particularly has to be seen instead of read.

JC I agree--for Shakespeare we had to read the plays (often parts outloud in class) and then would watch the movies, sometimes in corresponding scenes instead of all at once. I remember there was some minor, ridiculous uproar from a few parents about the nudity in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet during the 8th grade (My parents didn't mind--and I certainly didn't...).

"To get younger students to see past the "literal" and grasp the larger ideas being presented is to ask these students to think a different way than most of them (not all) are used to."

I was thinking, maybe it's all about the teacher.

The thing about Shakespeare is that was truly written to be spoken instead of read. That is the same of most plays, but it's moreso with Shakespeare. It's designed to be spoken in such a way that most plays are not, out of necessity when it was written to be learned quickly. Vowels, consonants, and meter are all deliberately chosen to evoke emotion through speech. Reading it can lead to technical appreciation of metaphor, imagery, and language- but hearing it performed by people who know what they're doing unlocks the emotion and the intent... and that's what really matters.

That's why every child ****ing hates studying Shakespeare in their middle school/high school classes. Because it is completely draining the text of any life.

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Every child does not HATE reading Shakespeare! I took an entire semester of it in HS -- and it was glorious. I did have an outstanding teacher, however. (which goes to agree with the above poster's statement that the right teacher can make all the difference.)

I currently have a glot of students that adore Shakespeare, and my own daughter truly enjoyed her first experience this year.


That being said: I agree with everything else Kad brings up!

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I adore Our Town. I think that part of the problem is that its so often done badly and many have seen a terrible production.

When its done well, though, it is heartbreaking and moving and every bit as relevant today as when it was written.

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