Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives. Using metatheatrical devices, Wilder sets the play in a 1930s theater. He uses the actions of the Stage Manager to create the town of Grover's Corners for the audience. Scenes from its history between the years of 1901 and 1913 play out. Originally broadcast on the Showtime Network, then as part of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre" (season 33, episode 1).
Acting
Newman's final Stage Manager—warm, cosmic, devastating
Direction
Bare sets force you to imagine, then break your heart
Writing
Wilder's dialogue: deceptively simple, structurally genius
Director
James Naughton
Paul Newman
Stage Manager
Maggie Lacey
Emily Webb
Ben Fox
George Gibbs
Jayne Atkinson
Mrs. Gibbs
Jane Curtin
Mrs. Webb
Jeffrey DeMunn
Mr. Webb
Frank Converse
Dr. Gibbs
Stephen Spinella
Simon Stimson
Kristen Hahn
Rebecca Gibbs
John Braden
Professor Willard
Tom Brennan
Joe Stoddard
Carter Jackson
Sam Craig
Stephen Mendillo
Constable Warren
Jake Robards
Howie Newsome
T.J. Sullivan
Joe Crowell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Paul Newman's final major on-screen role; he died in 2008. The Stage Manager became his unintentional farewell to audiences.
Wilder wrote this in 1938 as a deliberate rejection of theatrical realism—no furniture, no props, just people and time. It was radical then, still radical now.
US
