GUILFORD — Guilford Center Stage returns after a 3-year intermission with a production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, at the Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford. Performances are Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 7 at 2 p.m. Ian Hefele directs a cast from the tri-state region.
A theatrical groundbreaker when it debuted in 1938, Our Town was written at the nearby MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and the town of Grover's Corners in the play is based upon that locale. The play broke many theatrical conventions, evident from the opening lines of the script: “No curtain; no scenery; the audience, arriving, sees an empty stage.”
Edward Albee called Our Town “the great American play,” and audiences continue to find resonance in this depiction of ordinary people, living ordinary lives in a small New England town.
Among the innovative features of the play is Wilder's use of a central character, the Stage Manager, who communicates directly to the audience, and both moves the action along and interrupts it with commentary. Jennifer Gagnon plays this pivotal role.
Others in the cast, in order of appearance, are Randy Lichtenwalner, Oliver Bolz, Lesley Malouin, Tara Sabino, Julie Holland, Archer Holland, Amiliah, Owen Malouin, Magdalena Keppel, Aaron Morse, Charlie Morse, Terry Carter, Beverly Langveld, Bob Tucker, and Gregory.
The (real) stage manager is Kate Weeks. Lighting is by Maria Pugnetti, and Katia Morosan will be running light and sound. Don McLean is the producer for Guilford Center Stage.
This is the theater group's 10th show since its founding in 2015, and resumes a twice-a-year production schedule, now in the renovated and fully-accessible building, complete with a new elevator from the ground floor up to the theater space.
Broad Brook Community Center is at 3940 Guilford Center Road. General admission is $12 at the door, by cash or check. Advance tickets, for which a credit card may be used, are available online at bpt.me/5769579.