Our Town

Described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written,” Our Town is not merely a play; it is a devastating mediation on the swiftness of life itself. Presented in three acts, “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity,” the small town of Grover’s Corners unfolds under the watchful Stage Manager (Myles Gilbert). Performed with minimal props and sets, the play strips bare the spectacle and forces us to look beyond and straight into the aching heart of existence. Our Town depicts the simple daily lives of the local newspaper editor, Mr. Webb (Matt Hamblin), his wife, Myrtle (Kathern Scott), and their children Emily (Wynn Mahoney and Valeria Carbajal) and Wally (George Fancher); and Dr. Gibbs (Michael Mahoney), his wife, Julia (Mary Beth Anderson), and their children, George (Wesley Gilbert and Oliver Bemis) and Rebecca (Emma Braswell). As the children grow up, fall in love, marry, and eventually – in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre – die, we see the minutiae of their daily lives and the lives of the townsfolk, the comfort and joy of simple routine. 

 

The beautiful and sleepy town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire is brought to life by many others—Joe and Si Crowell (Hayleigh Rodery and Mattison Fay), the Constable (Shawn Aiden Nicks), Howie, the milkman (Bailey Kolb), Professor Willard (Landyn Gilbert), and choir director Simon Stimson (Brooks Cheek). Surrounded by a full cast who embody the full spectrum of living and lived, (Kayla Long, Jayden Bradshaw, Madison Tucker, Lena Harris, Ellie Jones, Jake Fancher, Johnny Phillips, Rachel Hayes, Jaxon Marcum, Chasity Price, Juni Salsman, Trinity Scott), we are transported to both the mundanity of ordinary life and the beauty of that same daily life.

 

At the play’s shattering peak, Emily cries out for us to recognize the glorious moments that we take for granted and asks us to see the true treasures of life, from the taste of coffee to the sight of a loving parent—”oh earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you.” Join us as we explore glorious, precious, ordinary life at the Lyric Theater for Our Town, November 14-15 and 21-22 at 7:00pm, November 16 and 23 at 2:00pm. Tickets are available at TheLyric.org and are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (55+) and students, and $11 for children (12 and under), when bought in advance; prices rise $4 if purchased at the door.