Take a Visit to 'Our Town'

When Moorestown Friends School drama teacher Mark Gornto was looking for a spring play, he wanted something that would challenge his Upper School actors. He found that challenge in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, a drama set at the turn of the 20th century in Grover’s Corner, NH.

“I always wanted to do the play,” said Gornto. “It offers students a challenge to present something that is different from a traditional play.”

Our Town offers just that.

The play is very minimalistic, Gornto said. The play relies heavily on themes. It is a story that can be described in eight words, said Gornto. “Daily life, love and marriage, end of life.”

It is the actors’ jobs to make a relatively mundane play, interesting.

“Nothing happens,” said Gornto, who is in his eighth year directing Moorestown Friends fall and spring productions. “It’s all about characters, their nuances, how they interpret the characters.”

The students have had to learn to work on a stage without props but to remember that although a wall is not there physically, it is there.

“A lot of the action is mimed,” said Gornto. “It’s difficult to sell, but it is accessible to an audience of any age because the characters are relatable and likeable.”

Our Town is the story of George and Emily, neighbors who fall in love. They live ordinary lives in an ordinary town.

The play also includes a Stage Manager, who talks to the audience, but is also part of the show. The part is played by senior Jake Burbage. It is Burbage’s eighth production with Gornto. He has also performed and directed plays by the school’s student-run Drama Club and the Shakespeare Club.

“For me, it’s not as difficult,” Burbage said of his role. “My character isn’t a character that’s pantomiming.”

Senior Stephanie Goodman, who plays Mrs. Webb, has learned a lot about character development from the play.

“There’s a lot of adapting to other actors and morphing as a character,” she said. “It’s challenging. You have to be conscious of not running into imaginary walls. You have to remember where things are placed in your mind. It’s a challenge.”

Despite the age of the play, Goodman and Burbage see it as adaptable to any time.

“It’s an old play, but the themes are very adaptive to our time,” Goodman said. “The major themes are what people deal with all the time: The roles of people in families.”

“The play is really hard hitting, very relatable to everybody,” said Burbage. “It’s one of the few shows that really gives a lasting emotional impact.”

Moorestown Friends will stage Our Town at 7 p.m. March 4 and 5. Tickets are available at the Stokes Hall Reception Desk between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. All seats are reserved. Adults/seniors: $12; students/children: $8.