Our Town Play Analysis

Our Town Play Response

Our Town takes place in the early 1900’s in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Thornton Wilder, the play writer, is trying to show the importance of the little things in life. Throughout the opening two acts he builds up a scenario, which allows the third act of the play to show that we as humans sprint through life oblivious to what is actually happening around us. Wilder, throughout the play, tries to show our lives as something that we often take for granted. We, as humans, do not see what we have in life until it is often too late. Wilder spends the play continuously building up a plot that focuses on attention to details of living.

In the opening act when Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb (who is played by actor Ellie Smoak) are stringing beans together and passing the time, the audience continues on, not seeing that importance lies in the scene. At the end of the play, the reason for that scene becomes understood: the most insignificant occurrence can be the most impactful moment.

Near the end of the play, the dead townspeople are set on chairs downstage, to look like graves. Even though they can talk, they seem spiritless. The characters provide the

More of these actions are: nervousness, sorrow and pain, happiness, hopelessness, and true love. The nervousness is illustrated in the wedding scene, and also when Emily goes back to visit her twelfth birthday after her passing. Sorrow and pain are emotions that are felt during the funeral scene, and at other times in the cemetery. When Emily and George first meet at the shop, they realize their love for each other and happiness is felt throughout the audience. There are many underlying actions during the course of the play that support the through-line. Every action in UTC’s Our Town seems to play an important part in the discovery of new emotions, insights, and