Our Town was recently staged by Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts. For this splendid production, director Gad Guterman reimagined the Stage Manager—the iconic presenter in Thornton Wilder’s portrayal of everyday life in the fictional town of Grovers’ Corners, New Hampshire.

The stage directions say the Stage Manager, “hat on and pipe in mouth,” is the first character to enter and speak. Sometimes he is portrayed as a mature figure with a folksy manner and a New Hampshire accent. He identifies with what he calls “our town,” but his omniscient narrator’s knowledge of its past and future sets him apart from everyone else. How far apart is an obvious question.

I have seen other productions that updated the Stage Manager, but the transformation at the Conservatory was the most radical I know of. The full ensemble came on stage at the start instead of just the Stage Manager. His lines were divided among the cast, with some of the actors introducing the characters they were about to play.

Eventually, three young women assumed the Stage Manager’s role as presenter. Daisy Held, Isa Venere, and Marilyn E. Wilson were riveting in the trisected part. Because they emerged from the ensemble, they seemed more a part of the community than the traditional Stage Manager. They usually worked as a unit, but sometimes they were in competition. Their liveliness and involvement were a refreshing alternative to the reserved, benevolent paternalism I associate with the part.

The Gibbs and the Webb families are introduced in Act One, in which George Gibbs and Emily Webb are school children. George and Emily fall in love and marry in Act Two. Death comes to Grovers’ Corners in Act Three, which is a plea to appreciate everyday life while we can.

Maggie Newstead-Adams as Emily and Jeremiah King as George brought telling detail to the stages of the young couple’s relationship. The  closeness and complexity of long marriages were well delineated by Norah Bary as Mrs. Gibbs, Will Hancock as Dr. Gibbs, Preston Stewart as Mr. Webb, and Parnassus Funk as Mrs. Webb.

Also in the fine ensemble were:

• Ainsley Hammond as Rebecca Gibbs
• Kennedy Jones as Wally Webb
• Jada Francis as Si Crowell (and cover for Joe Crowell)
• Sadie Gingold as Simon Stimson
• Beverly Joy Goh as a baseball player (and cover for Emily)
• Jade Harnish as Constable Warren
• Anahí Jiménez Chmielowskí as Jo Stoddard, Bessie, and Banker Cartwright
• Jamie Loeb as Mrs. Soames
• Reece McAbee as Howie Newsome (and cover for Mr. Webb and Dr. Gibbs)
• Ellie Palacios as Professor Willard
• Aurelia Power as Joe Crowell (and cover for the Stage Manager)
• Sarah Reesor as a woman among the dead (and cover for Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb)
• Jeremy Reyes as baseball player (and cover for George)
• Sofia Rodriguez as a person among the dead (and cover for Howie Newsome
• Byson Sands as Sam Craig

Anabel Weiland’s scenic design featured slightly raised platforms that created a flexible space for the action. The eclectic group of windows along the rear wall were a helpful reminder of the rest of the town.

Avey Kelley’s lighting and Bee Muzzy’s sound were notable enhancements to the atmosphere. Music director Carter Haney composed an appealing score and played it live on the piano.

Evelyn Weaver’s costumes and Salem Galloway’s hair and makeup were attractive additions to a production in which emphasizing the play’s universality was more important than preserving every detail of the play’s early 20th century setting.

Another departure from the norm reflected the same emphasis. Special guests from the community rather than cast members posed the questions from the audience in Act One. Introducing the questioners by name drove home the point that the play’s title refers our town as well as Grovers’ Corners.

One of the privileges of reviewing is the opportunity to document work like the Conservatory’s Our Town, whose brilliant concept deserves to have a wider audience than the one in the theater.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo © Phillip Hamer Photography
From the left, Daisy Held, Marilyn E. Wilson, and Isa Venere as the three Stage Mangers and Jeremiah King as George Gibbs in Our Town.