“We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars… everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings.”
–Our Town by Thornton Wilder
“It is an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events of our daily life.”
-Thornton Wilder on Our Town
There is something so magical about a play that, in one way or another, touches every human who encounters it. Our Town, written and published by Thornton Wilder in 1983, is one of those artworks. Aptly named one of the greatest plays ever written, the play explores phases of life and humanity in three acts titled “Daily Life”, “Love and Marriage”, and “Death and Eternity”. The acts bring to life the joys, ordinary moments, heartbreaks, and tribulations through an ordinary day, a marriage, and a death, all while showing the audience that the truths of time and presence hold the same value for the people of a small town in New Hampshire as they do for socialites in New York City. As always, there are spoilers below, so if you want to enjoy the impact of the play, I highly suggest reading or watching it and then coming back to this post.
The Theatre School at DePaul has produced Our Town on multiple occasions: in 1989, in 1999 in the historic Merle Reskin Theater, in 2013 as the inaugural production of the Watts Theatre in the new building on Fullerton Ave, and as a studio this season, directed by Damon Kiely (who also directed the 2013 production). I had the honor of being invited to the cast’s first dress rehearsal as part of a preview audience, and I have to say, it was one of the best shows I have seen in my Theatre School career, and it’s not just because my friends and classmates were a part of the cast.
I could go on and on about every single cast member and how they made this story their own, from BFA4 Brindley Eaton’s grounded and entrancing monologues as the Stage Manager, BFA3 Chickie Avila’s stunning emotional capacity as Emily, and BFA3 Madelyn Bleasdale’s spot-on physicalizations of no less than three characters to MFA2s Malik Lucas and Lindsey Carroll’s warm and loving performances as Doc. and Mrs. Gibbs, and BFA4 Charlotte Stagg’s humorous yet relatable performance as Mrs. Soames. My praise has no end for all of the actors involved. However, I kept wanting to know more. So I had the privilege of sitting down and talking with Damon Kiely about his thoughts on the play, the directorial choices, and what it felt like to return to such a heavy and integral play in not only The Theatre School’s history but in modern theatre in general after 13 years.
When I sat down with Damon, I first asked him how it felt to return to Our Town after over a decade. He told me he is drawn to this play because of the presence it requires from both the actors and the audience. Damon stated, “That [presence], to [him], is the message of the show . . . that’s very important right now, given, you know, how not present people are.” He went on to further state that in this run of the show, not only was it important for the actors to be present, through the introduction of a phone basket during rehearsal or ensemble building through personal storytelling at the beginning of each day, but for the audience as well. Damon reasoned that this need for presence is because “We’re all here together. It’s not we’re over here; you’re over there.”
This drew us into my second question: how was directing the play different this time around in a much smaller and more intimate space, as opposed to the Watts Theater? Damon said, “One of the things that I loved about the show in the classroom [studio setting] was the intimacy.” This was especially true in the last act, as the audience sat in chairs as fellow gravestones to the deceased characters, with no escape from the reality of life. And while, yes, in the 2013 production there were more technical elements, as that production was meant to show off the new theater, there was a magic created in the small black box that gave Grover’s Corners life and got rid of the barriers that such a large production, especially a period piece, can bring.
The two of us talked intermittently about motifs of the play, being “the life of the town measured against the life of the stars,” as put by Damon, and the community that is built within families, about technical elements, and the actors’ journeys. But ultimately, the discussion led to an understanding and continual fostering of theatrical community, which was the resounding undertone of this show. I truly believe Thornton would have been proud to have this production in his legacy. One that brought audience and actors together to question and confront the joys and hardships of life. I hope that every human gets to interact with this play once in their life. It is not one you’ll forget.
Until the curtain rises again…
About the Author
Hi! My name is Sara Elise Faunce and I am a senior BFA Acting major at The Theatre School. I aim to envelop my passions, enthusiasm, and steadfastness into every aspect of my career, whether through a performance on stage, on film, or through a video game. My love of dual-sided characters, weird voices, eleven o’clock musical numbers, and magical worlds lets me create joy and conversation, as I aim to reach people and invite them to converse and question through the art of storytelling. @saraelisef
Read more on the Honors Blog.
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