SAXTONS RIVER — Auditions for a summer production of Thornton Wilder's “Our Town” are Friday, April 25, from 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Main Street Arts.
Directed by Gordon Korstange, the play will use Saxtons River as the stage, inserting local information into the script and moving among various locations within the village, including the former Congregational Church (now the historical society), the Saxtons River Inn, Main Street, the elementary school, and the cemetery.
Rehearsals begin Monday, May 5, from 7 to 9 p.m. - Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays for principals, and Thursdays for the entire cast. Performances are June 20-22.
Scripts will be available at Main Street Arts prior to auditions, or auditioners can give cold readings.
Principal roles to be cast are Dr. Gibbs; his wife; his teenage son George and pre-teen daughter Rebecca; Mr. and Mrs. Webb; their teen daughter Emily; and their pre-teen son Wally.
Other roles are teenager Joe (Josie) Crowell, milkman Howie Newsome, Professor Willard, choir master Simon Stimson, Mrs. Soames, Constable Warren, Si Crowell, Sam Craig, Joe Stoddard, three members of the audience who interrupt with questions, and four or five dead people in the cemetery.
“Our Town” tells the story in three acts (Daily Life, Love and Marriage, Death and Dying) of life in an average American small town between 1901 and 1913. Set in the fictional Grover's Corners, N.H., it is believed to have been inspired by life in Peterborough, N.H. First performed in 1938, the play was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is one of America's most-often-produced plays.