By Cari Lynn Pace
COVID kept me from attending the opening night of Our Town on Friday, January 26th, at Ross Valley Players. By the time I was well a week later, the theatre was sold out. With good reason, indeed.
This endearing Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Thornton Wilder harks back to a simpler time in the early 1900s. Horses outnumbered cars, and a first date might have been a shared strawberry phosphate at the soda counter. Mothers in aprons kept busy from sun-up; fathers home from work guided their children.
“Narrator Lisa Morse takes us on an imaginary and vivid exploration of the town…”
The play opens with a large and delightfully costumed cast (kudos to designer Michael A. Berg) bustling about onstage in the quaint hamlet of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Narrator Lisa Morse takes us on an imaginary and vivid exploration of the town.
Morse is remarkably skilled at describing what we cannot see; we can almost smell the heliotrope she points to, wafting up from a garden. All this is evoked in the imaginations of the audience, as the play’s staging is quite austere—not “black box theater,” but close.
Spot-on acting abounds under the capable and sensitive direction of Chloe Bronzan. Fast-moving scenes include Jennifer McGeorge as Mrs. Webb, Steve Price as local newspaper editor Mr. Webb, Tina Traboulsi as their daughter Emily Webb, Jaedan Sanchez as George Gibbs, Michael-Paul Thomsett as Dr. Gibbs, Lauri Smith as Mrs. Gibbs, Peter Warden as Simon Stimsom, Justin Hernandez as Sam Craig/Howie Newsom, Ann Fairlie as Mrs. Soammes, Alexandra Fry as Rebecca Gibbs/Si Crowell, and Dalton Ortiz as Wally Webb/Joe Crowell Jr. Tom Reilly rounds out the cast as Professor Willard/Constable Warren/Mr. Carter. Quite a list of characters for such a small town!
Poignant emotions flow freely from energetic and idealistic youth to elder acceptance of regrets now past. Our Town is more than a slice of life as it may have been. It’s a meal of a nearly full life, a lovely homage to a time long gone. This popular play is well-attended; plan accordingly.
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ASR Writer & Editor Cari Lynn Pace is a voting member of SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and writes theatre and lifestyle reviews for the Marinscope Community Newspapers throughout Marin County. Contact: pace-koch@comcast.net
| Production | Our Town |
|---|---|
| Written by | Thornton Wilder |
| Directed by | Chloe Bronzan |
| Producing Company | Ross Valley Players |
| Production Dates | Thru Feb 25th |
| Production Address | Ross Valley Players "The Barn" 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Greenbrae, CA 94904 |
| Website | www.rossvalleyplayers.com |
| Telephone | 415-456-9555 ext. 1 |
| Tickets | $20-$35 |
| Reviewer Score | Max in each category is 5/5 |
| Overall | 4/5.0 |
| Performance | 4/5.0 |
| Script | 5/5.0 |
| Stagecraft | 4/5.0 |
| Aisle Seat Review PICK? | YES! |