Student Review Of Our Town At Woodbridge Senior High School

From Woodbridge Schools: "This is the way we were: in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying," the Stage Manager explains as she invites the audience to visit a small town in New Hampshire. With a glimpse into the way ordinary people lived their ordinary lives, Woodbridge Senior High School reveals the importance of appreciating every moment of life in their touching rendition of Our Town.

Thornton Wilder's Our Town first debuted on Broadway in February of 1938 to rave reviews, and went on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama. A three-act metatheatrical play, Our Town follows actors as they perform in a show about the daily lives of those who live in the small, fictional New Hampshire town of Grover's Corners from 1901 to 1913. The Stage Manager narrates the production, consistently breaking the fourth wall, and inviting the audience into the lives of the Gibbs and Webb families as they navigate everyday tasks, young love, and mortality, learning to appreciate an all too fleeting life. Fiona Good drove the show along as the wise Stage Manager, providing insights into the lives of those in Grover's Corner. Her poised maturity created a composed foundation for the show, and her interactions with the audience were intimate and insightful. Emily Webb (Rileigh Perkins) and George Gibbs (Gabe Ramirez) were adorably awkward in their youthful romance, growing perfectly into a committed marriage. Perkins effortlessly embodied childlike curiosity and enthusiasm, always carrying a spritely skip on her was to school and back, and aged to a devoted, if grieving, wife as she realizes the preciousness of life.

The young lovers' mothers, Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs, were portrayed by Lillie Cooper and Miriam Elhadidi, respectively. Cooper was a no-nonsense mother who was stern and demanding of her two children, Emily and Wally (Donovyn James); however, she later reveals her sensitive nature in a truly heartbreaking moment, tears streaming down her face as she mourns a loved one's premature death. Elhadidi was a caring mother and wife, while always clear of her wistfulness for a life greater that Grover's Corners. The two mothers interacted flawlessly, gossiping as they convincingly pantomimed snapping peas. Other standout performances included Kieran Weldon as Mr. Webb, who was caringly intimidating to his future son-in-law the day of Emily and George's wedding, and Rebekah Dobard as the gossiping choir-member Mrs. Soames. The simplistic set utilized white chairs and tables to create the family homes, churches, and soda shops, and instead of props the cast pantomimed the objects with which they interacted. Utilizing universal lighting, the audience received an intimate experience that immersed them into Grover's Corners. The ambiance was completed by Sadie Sullivan and Mark Gonzales, who sat on stage creating an exceptionally unique soundscape.

Using props or their voices, Sullivan and Gonzales created the sound of a warm crackling fire, an approaching steam train, or the clucking of chickens, immersing the audience into early 20th century life. Grover's Corners is an ordinary town, complete with ordinary people and ordinary pleasures of life. Once in a thousand times, something interesting will happen. However, with a poignant take of the importance of life and heart-breaking nature of death, Woodbridge Senior High School's production of Our Town was anything but ordinary.

Photo Via Brad Engborg