The raw act of performance is the essence of Our Town, a
celebration of humanity broken down into its simplest units: daily
life, marriage and death. Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play lends itself
to our current context through its graceful execution upon the
Saint Louis University stage.

The play’s theme of community resonates in the voices of the
University Mastersingers, whose choral arrangements grace the
opening of each act. The music is an effective extension of
Wilder’s original intentions that cultivates the presence of a
larger community.

The choir is also an original part of the script, conducted by
the bitter but comical Simon Stimson (Kevin Grooms), an alcoholic
choirmaster whose fatal hopelessness is skillfully conveyed.

The limited narrative action of the play begins to take shape
when George Gibbs (Bob Thibaut) professes his love for his
life-long neighbor Emily Webb (Heather Wood) the all-American
way–over an ice cream soda. George is earnest and selfless in his
love for Emily, traits that translate flawlessly into Thibaut’s
performance.

Emily emerges as the focus of Wilder’s celebratory picture of a
small town whose constituents are far from perfect. The haunting
innocence of her character concludes the play with an awareness of
the transience of human life.

Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs (Jason Garrison and Katy Vogt) provide their
children with a wholesome, traditional upbringing parallel to that
of Mr. and Mrs. Webb (Scott Hiller and Sarah Kattau). Life’smost
beautiful moments can also be the most terrifying; on the morning
of Emily and George’s wedding, the parents’ collected demeanor
deteriorates, and the depth of these characters’ development is
revealed.

The gossipy Mrs. Soames (Jen Theby) is one of the few characters
we meet outside of the Webb and Gibbs families, along with an
eccentric professor from the State University, Professor Willard
(Paul Balfe), among others. These characters give us a sense of
interconnectedness within the routine of Grover’s Corners, N.H.,
adding a dash of humor to the tragedy.

The Stage Manager (James Malone) weaves the play together with a
masterful presence, transitioning between the level of the audience
and the lives of the characters. As he speaks of a time capsule
where Our Town will be buried, he underscores the universality of
the play’s events.

The sharpness and purity of the performance successfully
preserves the transcendence of Wilder’s message, under the
inventive direction of Tom Martin. The black wall serving as the
backdrop is a blank canvas for the action, which the actors take
the creative liberty to draw on with chalk to establish the
setting. The play is performed as Wilder intended without props or
scenery: Sound effects performed offstage fill in the aural blanks
as mundane daily even its become beautiful in the simplicity of
this performance.

The University Theatre’s performance of Our Town is stunning,
and to miss it would be folly. Performances continue this weekend
on April 23 and 24 at 8 p.m., at the Saint Louis University Theatre
in Xavier Hall.