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Author Topic: Pulitzer Marathon Week 2 - Our Town  (Read 2037 times)

FLYmeatwad

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Pulitzer Marathon Week 2 - Our Town
« on: December 24, 2008, 11:51:48 AM »
Just getting the thread up, my post will hopefully come later tonight and not on Friday. I'm going to try to get down everything I wanted to write about the play because there's quite a bit I can talk about.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Pulitzer Marathon Week 2 - Our Town
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2009, 03:31:19 PM »
Tis long overdue, but here we go.

Thornton Wilder, as may or may not be widely known, has won the Pulitzer Prize in both Drama, where he won twice, and for Fiction. Despite producing a ton of top notch plays, obviously Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth jump out, he also helped Hitchcock with Shadow of a Doubt, Wilder is generally not discussed as one of America's greatest playwrights because he spent so much time working in other venues of literature as well. While I can understand this, I still feel as if Thornton is responsible for the greatest play I have ever read, and it's undeniable that he is also responsible for another one of my favorites, Our Town. Also it is interesting to note that this is likely Wilder's most famous play and easily his most performed. Countries the world over still perform Our Town on an incredibly regular basis.

While O'Neill blended the real with the abstract in a Anna Christie, Wilder presents the real but strips just about everything away in order to make the reader aware of the collective 'our' rather than simply the New England 'our.' Through the stage manager, actually played by Thornton in a few productions, Wilder effectively tells a story while knocking on and pushing against the fourth wall throughout the three acts. It's the majestic nature by which the stage manager orchestrates the entire play that makes his presence so welcome and so particularly effective in relation to the play's themes.

However, I do know that some people have encountered problems with his presence. The most common complaint that I have encountered is that he is more of an obstacle than a help, highlighting his mysterious nature and presence throughout the work, and that he really throws the audience off of Emily and George in favor of the higher themes that Wilder hoped to comment on. I can probably understand this with George, but that Third Act is so brilliant and beautifully put together that Emily not only becomes developed enough, I think the purpose is not to have each character be incredibly unique but certainly recognizable as an individual, to evoke a range of emotion. I'm going to get back to this in a few paragraphs, but first I want to talk a bit more about the way the play is structured and how brilliant it is.

The stage manager tells the audience that there are a few things here and there for the people who need that sort of thing in a play, but the barren stage must be striking to watch all of these things happen. I think it's another way that Wilder gives just enough, but by doing so he also forces the audience to imagine and to watch the play actively rather than passively, which helps him introduce and flesh out the philosophical Third Act. It's a really large risk, but I think that it pays off. The other thing that people say the lack of props helps with is the universal qualities of the play, though I would likely contend this has more to do with what is being presented rather than how it is presented.

Speaking of universality, the way the play is constructed and all the layers here are absolutely stunning. The reader can go up or down and the play still works. Starting at the top you have the existence question and the town becomes everything, the collective 'our.' Yet the dialogue is so specifically American that narrowing down to a more specific American commentary with the town being the United States works as well. Here's where I can only go on what I have been told, but from what I hear, the characters also act very reserved and close knit, much like smaller communities in New England, a specifically New England trait, so even as simply the town of Grovers Corners it works as well. The construction is absolutely beautiful and the attention to detail that Wilder provides to make sure it will all work is incredibly impressive.

I want to wrap up with two things. The first is the question of ambiguity. The last speech and Emily's revelation, at least the general consensus I have been exposed to, makes the play out to be much less tragic and ultimately uplifting in a seize the day sort of way. However, I have always read the play as, if not incredibly tragic, certainly nihilistic. It has always said to me that it's impossible for people to realize the value in life, even the few that do may not completely get it. I find this terribly depressing. Then it eerily ends with a calm and collected "Goodnight" from the stage manager before the lights fade. I don't know, how did everyone else read it?

The second thing, we talked about this in class during Fall semester, is Simon Stimson's role in the play. The professor said he read a few articles that talk about Simon possibly being homosexual and that is why he is constantly shown as an outsider and what ultimately leads to his suicide. Did anyone else pick up on this?

Either way, I think that Our Town is an utterly fascinating play. Layered and complex, universal and specific, ambiguous and direct. It's a masterful work and a pleasure to read each time I have picked it up. I'm really glad that we got to do this play.

alexarch

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Re: Pulitzer Marathon Week 2 - Our Town
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2009, 03:42:54 PM »
For an interesting documentary about an inner-city class that put on a production of Our Town, rent OT: Our Town

Not a great doc, but it's interesting.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Pulitzer Marathon Week 2 - Our Town
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2009, 05:38:43 PM »
They actually screened this at my school. Sadly I had conversation hour during the same time and couldn't miss it, but I shall check out the doc at some point.

pixote

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Re: Pulitzer Marathon Week 2 - Our Town
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2009, 06:20:12 PM »
I might sneak this play in this weekend, if I need a break from At Swim, Two Boys.

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