Our Town

Our Town
1938 first edition cover from the Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division
Written byThornton Wilder
Characters
  • Stage Manager
  • Mrs. Myrtle Webb
  • Mr. Charles Webb
  • Emily Webb
  • Joe Crowell Jr.
  • Mrs. Julia Gibbs
  • Dr. Frank F. Gibbs
  • Simon Stimson
  • Mrs. Soames
  • George Gibbs
  • Howie Newsome
  • Rebecca Gibbs
  • Wally Webb
  • Professor Willard
  • Woman in the Balcony
  • Man in the Auditorium
  • Lady in the Box
  • Constable Warren
  • Si Crowell
  • Three Baseball Players
  • Sam Craig
  • Joe Stoddard
Date premieredJanuary 22, 1938
Place premieredMcCarter Theatre
Princeton, New Jersey
Original languageEnglish
SubjectLife and death in an American small town
GenreDrama
Setting1901 to 1913. Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, near Massachusetts.

Our Town is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written",[1] it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens.

Wilder uses metatheatrical devices, setting the play in the actual theatre where it is being performed. The main character is the stage manager of the theatre who directly addresses the audience, brings in guest lecturers, fields questions from the audience, and fills in playing some of the roles. The play is performed without a set on a mostly bare stage. With a few exceptions, the actors mime actions without the use of props.

The first performance of Our Town was at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 22, 1938.[2] It went on to success on Broadway and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and remains popular today with frequent revivals.

  1. ^ "Origin Theatrical | Our Town".
  2. ^ "Our Town: A History". Masterpiece Theatre. PBS. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.