Is "Our Town" the most boring play? — Page 3

I read Our Town when I was a kid, and didn't quite get it. But, when I saw the '89 taping of the LCT production and the aboslute perfection achieved by Penelope Ann Miller, particularly in that final monologue, I realized just how special and wonderful a play it is.

I directed several productions of OUR TOWN and played George Gibbs 'way back when I was young enough to look convincing in knickers.

It's a lovely play and when I saw the Paul Newman version I found myself wiping tears from my eyes in the soda fountain scene, as well as during Emily's "farewell to Grover's Corners". The sheer beauty of Wilder's language and his ability to capture the essence of human existence is extremely touching.

OUR TOWN is a major work that may be destroyed by well-intended English teachers and inept directors.

---

OUR TOWN is a beautiful play and when I read the OP's comment: find it quite a snore-fest,my first thought was you must have seen a bad production, but even bad productions cannot completely dim the glow of Wilder's poetic writing. You have to pay attention and think about what is being presented on stage. There is a good reason why the play is done without props or set pieces...the author wants to make you use your imagination. Maybe you don't have any.

---

Well Mother Gibbs was obviously a big ol' lesbian.

Updated On: 6/15/12 at 04:09 PM

I believe the video version of the play that Jordan treasures--the one with Hal Holbrook as the Stage Manager--clears up the matter of the character some people think is homosexual. Simon Stimson was a married man who drank because his wife ran off with a politician (or was it a salesman???). That scene had been in the original text but had been cut from the original production due to playing time.

Of course, we could argue about WHY Mrs. Stimson lost left her husband....

---

It's a play that can pass by un-noticed unless your perceptive to it, just like the lesson in life Emily learns all too late.

---

I think if you find this play boring, you've never seen a production or performances that do it justice. Simple as that.

---

To me, Simon is symbolic of anyone who doesn't fit into small town life, but is stuck there for whatever reason.

You can draw your own conclusion why he drinks and is suicidally depressed and doesn't fit in, and no answer is definitively right or wrong. He could be gay, absolutely. He could also be a frustrated artist or musician that, for lack of drive or talent or circumstances, will never realize the goals he dreamed of in his youth. He could have lost the love of his live and never recovered. He could be clinically manic-depressive/bipolar with no understanding of the illness and how to treat it.

I like that it's left open for the audience to draw its own conclusion.

As it says so simply and honestly in the script, "Some people just aren't meant for small town life."

---

Updated On: 6/16/12 at 01:23 AM