Effective Use Of The Stage Manager As A Narrator In Our Town
Have you ever gone and seen a play with no set? None whatsoever? Where instead of a house, there’s just an empty space, or maybe card table chairs instead of bar stools in a soda shoppe. Whether you have or have not seen a play with this type of staging, there are plays like this. They fit into a dramatic genre called theatricalism. One of the main goals of theatricalism is the attempt to get a message or purpose to the audience through thought instead of emotions. Writers of this genre tend to believe that an idea e impactful and powerful than a feeling. This belief is showcased in Our Town through the use of the Stage Manager as a Narrator, the minimal set and set pieces, and the author’s attempt to consistently remind you that this world …show more content…
This character interacts directly with the audience and the characters on stage. He serves as a link between the two. In Act One, he even brings out Professor Willard to give the audience a brief history of Grover’s Corners. Sometimes he’ll even jump into scenes as an actor: “The STAGE MANAGER… assumes the role of MR. MORGAN.” (Wilder 64). The same happens when he steps in as the minister, “The STAGE MANAGE, as CLERGYMAN, stands on the box, up center” (Wilder 76). Thornton Wilder uses this character to straight-out tell you the message, therefore appealing to rationality and not emotionality, thus employing this theatrical belief.
One dramatically odd detail about the script of this play is that the set is clearly described and incredibly minimal. In Act One, George and Emily are described by the Stage Manager to be speaking to one another through their windows. Wilder writes that this is to be “two ladders [that have] been pushed on stage; they serve as an indication of the second story in the Gibbs’ and Webb’s houses” (Wilder 33). Wilder wants his audience to understand, not feel. This type of set allows the audience to focus on what’s happening and what it means rather than get caught up in the
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