Our Town

“No curtain. No scenery.”

Our Town is performed without the use of scenery and very few props. This is made known to the audience at the very beginning, warning them that this play will not be like others they have seen or what they expect. Instead, it will take people back to a time before the use of scenery and props, when the message was in the acting and lighting. It forces the audience to focus on the characters and thematic elements of the play rather than fancy scenery and distracting props.

“Nobody very remarkable ever come out of it, s’far as we know.”

Grover’s Corners is an ordinary town like any other. It represents the classic early 1900s American town. Within the town, the same families have continued living, raising children, getting married, and dying. Nobody extraordinary has ever been born in Grover’s Corners, although some like Joe and George may be exceptions. The characters are simple, ordinary, and without unnecessary frills.

“But the war broke out and he died in France. All that education for nothing.”

Joe Crowell was the smartest boy in town, and even though he had the potential to become an engineer, he died fighting in World War I and was buried in the Grover’s Corners cemetery. This quote illustrates the likelihood of dying young during the early 1900s and how life often turns out the opposite of what people expect.