Part love song, part wake-up call to the world, Our Town, which debuts Oct. 3 at Neely Auditorium at Vanderbilt University, explores regret, renewal and eternal hope in the details of living set against the stars.
Our Town is a story of character development that follows the interactions between citizens of an everyday town in the early 20th century through their everyday lives (particularly the lives of George Gibbs, a doctor’s son, and Emily Webb, the daughter of a newspaper editor). Our Town was first performed on Jan. 22, 1938, and won the Pulitzer Prize later that year.
"Wilder asserts that what makes life worthwhile is not ‘stuff’ (materialism) but human relationships and community," says Terryl Hallquist, director of Our Town and associate professor of theater. "Wilder offers universal truths about humanity. Our Town is anywhere you are and it is also ‘Our Time.’ Although he has set the play at the turn of the last century, what he explores about the human conditions endures. Styles may come and go; word usage changes; progress leaves behind the horse and buggies, replacing them with cars, and now fuel-efficient cars; but the construct of the family is ever-present, whether we are in ancient Rome or modern, present-day Nashville. Although his play reveals and comments upon everyday existence, he places the action and the characters in the largest possible context, ultimately in the ‘mind of God.’"
Our Town will be performed at 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11, and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 5. Admission is $10 for the general public, $7 for graduate and professional students and free for undergraduates with Vanderbilt identification. Tickets go on sale Sept. 29 at the Neely Auditorium box office. Tickets may be reserved by calling (615) 322-2404.
For more information about the 2008-2009 Vanderbilt Theater Season, visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/theatre/currentseason. For more news and information about Vanderbilt University, please visit www.vanderbilt.edu/news.
Media contact: Missy Pankake, (615) 322-NEWS
missy.pankake@vanderbilt.edu