'Our Town' Features Area Talent at Duncan Smith Theater

Starting Friday, April 1,  The Holmdel Theatre Company will be on a mission to make you forget all your preconceived notions about Our Town, the classic drama written by Thornton Wilder.

This troupe's production, which runs through April 9, will take place in the Duncan Smith Theater, a 125-year-old restored barn — the perfect quaint setting for taking in a more intimate slice of Americana.

Director Michael Kroll sought to breathe new life into this production by taking a chance and presenting the play in “black box” theater style. Gone is the sense of nostalgia, the New England accents, and the period costumes. In their place will be the stark reality of raw emotion and humanity, and a closer connection with the audience via this staging method that relies on interpretation rather than typical elaborate sets.

The Holmdel Theatre Company has a distinctive mission to bring together professional actors, set designers and directors with non-professional community actors and high school students. Their goal is to create an innovative environment that allows for hands-on education and mentoring.  Veterans and new actors work side by side, learning and growing from each other’s talents and experiences. 

Producer Rebecca Harris Flynn feels that this production of Our Town really helps foster the theater’s mission due to the stripped down, intimate nature and the audience involvement.

“This version really has a powerful effect on everyone involved,” she said.  “The close proximity of the audience and the actors make it impossible to ignore the emotion.”

The black box theatre approach is also an innovative way to use the unique atmosphere of the restored barn on its own. Immediately upon entering the theater, one feels a deep sense of purity and artistic inspiration.  There is no set to distract from the living piece of history that houses the play, and there could be no better location to evoke a sense of pure Americana.

Director Michael Kroll was inspired to create this version of Our Town after seeing a black box performance of the play in New York City. He said he left overwhelmed by emotion and felt inspired to recreate a similar style performance that would leave the audience feeling as moved as he was.

Kroll’s version of Our Town is a more contemporary version which he describes  as “multiple snapshots of Americana.”  The cast wears everyday street clothes to take the focus of the nostalgic aspect of the play. Although the time period remains the turn of the century, because of the way it is presented, the audience should get the sense that this could be a slice of someone’s life in any town at any time.

Kroll feels that the main focus of the play is to showcase the importance and beauty of the “small lives” that everyone lives. He feels that the black box style allows for the content of the play to be felt more, and the emotions to be more relatable to the audience.

“Every emotion imaginable is in this play,” Kroll says. “Each character has an inner turmoil that is very relatable and very human,” he says. “Our goal is to have everyone leave recognizing that the ordinary is precious and that we should be grateful for that.”

Performances of Our Town will be held on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from April 1 through 9 at 8 p.m. On Sunday, April 3, there will be a matinee at 3 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting http://www.holmdeltheatrecompany.org/