"Let's look at one another."

The first play I chose to read was "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder

This was such a perfect play for me to start with! It really brought back all that I love about theatre. Great writing, great characters, and a great purpose for attending the theatre.

It started out with an incredible intro from Thornton Wilder that really had me thinking!

“I began to feel that the theatre was not only inadequate, it was evasive; it did not wish to draw upon its deeper potentialities. I found the word for it; it aimed to be soothing. The tragic had to heat; the comic had no bite; the social criticism failed to indict us with responsibility. I began to search for the point where the theatre had run off the track, where it had chosen- and permitted- to become a minor art and an inconsequential diversion.” (preface p. viii)

All I could think after that was... AMEN. So much of the theatre I have seen recently has been so meaningless or self praising. There didn't seem to be any purpose, or any deeper meaning to anything on stage. Being edgy or pushing the envelope just to say they could.

Anywhoo... I'm getting off topic.

I was lucky enough to watch Our Town while I was at BYU-Idaho, and some of my very favorite people were in the cast. So it was there faces that I saw as I read. With that being said I dove into the script loving every moment and learning as I read. And to be honest the play is much more powerful than I gave it credit for originally.

Thornton Wilder said:"Our town is not offered as a picture of life in a New Hampshire village; or as a speculation about the conditions of life after death (that element I merely took from Dante’s Purgatory). It is an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life.” (preface p. xi)

That focus on the common individual, and his or her daily life, was exactly what I needed to hear to help me gain focus on what was most important in my life. What were my daily goals in my personal life with the people around me?

I actually used a quote from act 3 in my talk at church last Sunday. Emily says: "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?- every, every minute?” (P. 62)

Human beings are important, what we choose to do with the time we have is important. Do we cherish our relationships? Do we take the time to look at one another? I know we can't do it all the time, but we need to take time to build relationships and love those in our lives.

Oh man... it just makes me so happy! I now want to direct Our Town someday. Or incorporate it into a few of the ideas I have.

Well that is my short and sweet report. I will end with a few other quotes that brought a smile to my face!

“George: I guess it’s hard for a fella not to have faults creep into his character.” (Act II. P. 40)

“Stage Manager: Whenever you come near the human race, there’s layers and layers of nonsense…” (Act III. P. 51)