Tower Theatere Uses Simplicity to Deliver “Our Town”
Seth Somers found nothing to love when he first read “Our Town” in high school. Now a sophomore actor in Liberty’s production of the play, Somers was hardly alone in his opinion.
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work is a required reading at many high schools, is inexpensive to produce and has a large cast, all of which has made it the victim of thousands of lackluster productions.
But done right—
“It’s trying to teach you to appreciate what’s there,” Somers said.
Originally from Canada, he has not been home since Christmas due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. As a result, he has come to deeply value the show’s themes of home and community.
“I’ve never connected to a show as deeply,” Somers said.
Senior Gretchen Eckert, in the narrator role of Stage Manager, prayed with the audience before opening the show.
“This is our town,” she said, and the risers fill with actors.
Eckert introduces each character by name. She rarely leaves the stage, drawing the audience through the town’s geography and time, from the mundane to the profound, introducing guest lecturers, stepping into bit roles, cutting off scenes to make a point — and beaming on it all with humor and love that invite the audience to delight with her in the town and its people.
Director Scott Hayes wants audiences to feel as though they are sitting in on a rehearsal. Actors wear ball caps and jeans, mime most props, and wear leggings under rehearsal skirts.
Hayes took inspiration from an acclaimed 2009 production of “Our Town” by director David Cromer, a stripped-down attempt to emphasize the profound simplicity of daily life. This production ditches the period New Hampshire dialect and brings actors onstage to provide sound effects for rattling milk bottles and opening doors.
Before COVID-19, Hayes planned to produce the show in Liberty’s Black Box Theater, and in the round, instead of on the Tower Theater’s proscenium, stage.
COVID-19 impacted other aspects of the production; Actors wore masks during rehearsals until about a week before opening night, they served as understudies for each other, and they cannot leave the Lynchburg area until the show closes.
Freshman Elise Young, who plays Emily Webb, said wearing masks forced her to pay closer attention to scene partners, which in turn strengthened her acting.
Stage manager Hannah J. McDonald found creative ways to manage COVID-19 safety measures. At pre-rehearsal temperature checks, she invited actors to guess their temperature. Instead of the usual paper and pencil attendance sheet, she arranged a digital sign-in. Cast and crew members answered trivia questions about each other — whose favorite noodle is Yakamein? — to be marked present at rehearsal.
When McDonald had to quarantine for two weeks, the assistant stage managers placed a laptop on a table so she could watch rehearsal and take notes through Microsoft Teams. Every show takes a group effort, but McDonald said working to keep each other healthy and the production on track drew the cast and crew together even more than usual.
“We’re all one company,” McDonald said. “We’re all driving toward this one goal.”
And that sense of community comes through onstage, as the company works together to draw out the beauty of the mundane. The cast and crew of “Our Town” invite audiences to sit down and take a long look at what matters.
As the Stage Manager says, “There are some things we all know, but we don’t take them out and look at them very often.”
Esther Eaton is a Feature Reporter. Follow her on Twitter at @EstherJay10.