Faster than a speeding bullet!
No, we’re not talking about a revival of that Superman musical. Instead, let’s first talk aboutthe rapid pace that Kenny Leon has brought to thefourth Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece.
His OUR TOWN rings in at an hour and forty-five minutes. It’s his way of underlining one of the themes in Wilder’s richly-themed play: Time goes by fast.
Very fast.
Adults disagree on politics, religion, sexuality and even who makes the best pizza. But virtually every adult will tell you: time doesn’t just fly, but it flies at supersonic speed.
Hence, this is a novel and justifiable approach to a play whose productions usually take their own sweet time.
Another reason for the shorter running time is that both intermissions have been dropped. That does mean the loss of the famous line that ends Act One: “You can go out and smoke now, those that smoke.”
(Had the intermission been retained, perhaps the line would have been updated to “You can go out and check your messages now – and we know you all have phones.”)
The original quip was said by the play’s narrator, whom Wilder named The Stage Manager. Although the character has always started the play by sauntering onto a bare stage, here at the Barrymore Theatre, he doesn’t. As the lights dimmed low, an actor emerges who bears no resemblance to Jim Parsons, who’s been entrusted with the role.
Many other performers stroll out, too, but before any audience member can blink, Parsons enters unobtrusively from the back wall, defusing any chance of entrance applause.
Smart of Leon not to make OUR TOWN a star vehicle. One of the many, many, many wonderful aspects of Wilder’s comedy-drama is its feeling that every person is special. There’d be plenty of time at the curtain call to deliver the deservedpraise to Parsons and everyone else – yes, everyone else, down to Julie Halston, playing the town gossip, who makes the nonsense of gossip actually seem no-nonsense.
Blending Parsons in with the 22 others is also Leon’s way of showing us from moment one that this will be an unconventional production, and not merely from the non-traditional casting.
(Such casting has become so traditional that the prefix “non” should be excised from the phrase.)
The Gibbs family is Black; the Webb Family isCaucasian. But unlike The Notebook, which doomed itself partly because it confused audiences by mixing and not-quite-matching the races of family, spouses and lovers, Leon has made each family consistent.
Some could complain that there had to be precious little intermarriage in a small and staid NewHampshire town – and in 1901, no less, which is still when the action takes place. Leon works around that by adding anachronisms, such asteenager Emily Webb’s skirt that’s much too short for a turn-of-the-century lass. But this is as a way of saying that Emily is Everygirl, a Girl for AllSeasons, a Symbol.
So, while writers of some plays and musicals use anachronisms helter-skelter as if they’re writing The Flintstones (all to get cheap laughs), here theystrangely work in suggesting timelessness and universality. It could only work in a play that deserves the description sui generis – meaning that there never was and never has been anything like OUR TOWN.
Despite the production going at a mile-a-half-minute speed, none of what Wilder had to say gets lost. We still see Grovers Corners’ denizens as people who seem to be happy because they got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. They like their simple life, but they also take pride that “the town’s getting bigger every year.”
There’s that small-town’s need to conform. “That being “on the streets at this time of night” seems to them, if not a crime, a certain misdemeanor. The cop on the beat (an excellent Bill Timoney) tells the town drunk “Most of the town has settled down for the night. I guess we better do the same.”Parson, taking on the role of the sweet shop ownerfirmly believes that “The best thing to do is just stay home.”
So, they’re missing out on a good deal of life by being conservative. We’re told that “90% of the people stay,” meaning they’re afraid to move or living there becomes a habit.
Thus they’re missing out on a lot in life? Yes and no. Wilder’s point is that living life anywhere has many values and assets.
As Emily Webb, Zoey Deutch has a chirpy voice full of the confidence of youth. After a certain setback, she says, “I wish I were dead,” the way we’ve all said from time to time.
Be careful what you wish for, Emily. Thornton Wilder is here to say that life is still worth living even with the pain that comes with it.
Emily will encounter far more pain. When as a teen she says, “I’m gonna make speeches all my life,” she’s unaware that she’ll deliver her greatest one after her life has ended.
As Emily’s too-busy mother, Katie Holmes amuses as a young wife who propagates old-wives’ tales.Emily’s father agrees that “There’s a lot of common sense in superstitions.” Richard Thomasshows that Mr. Webb believes it to his core.
Thomas also excels in a scene where Mr. Webbtells young George that he got advice from his father, ignored it, and has been happy ever since.It’s just one example of how, despite the play’s consistent simplicity, Wilder didn’t just resort to writing stick figures.
Playing their neighbor Doctor Gibbs, Billy Eugene Jones is the father we all wish we had. He earns the respect that his son George gives him when addressing him as “Sir.”
Portraying George, Ephraim Sikes shows the consternation that all teens have when trying to figure out a math problem involving yards and square yards – the type of problem that once vexed all of us, and one that many of us have never needed solved.
Perhaps best of all is Safiya Kaijya Harris as Mrs. Gibbs. She shows a vague embarrassment when disclosing to Mrs. Webb that she has the chance to come into some money and would like to go to Paris with it.
However, she immediately adds “It sounds crazy.”
Oh, really? Why? What’s “crazy” about it? We’ll eventually learn whether she did or didn’t go. Hearing an audience audibly respond when they learn her fate is one reason why seeing OUR TOWN must been seen in a live theater productionwith people all around you.
Adding to the atmosphere are the various fragrances piped in throughout the theater. The early scenes are enhanced by heliotrope, and the latter with the smell of bacon perhaps as a tribute to David Cromer’s 2009 production which introduced that aroma that must have made even the staunchest vegans think twice about their lifestyle.
As for Parsons, he works the play and the crowd so effortlessly, he could have a second career as a circus ringmaster. Should he choose that occupation and then care to try another, he might make a splendid magician, for he sure knows how to juggle all the balls in the air.
Parsons also expresses down-to-earth truth when all commenting on all of our lives: “Once in a thousand times, it’s interesting.”
OUR TOWN is certainly one of these times.
Finaly, Parsons is perfectly earnest when he says,“I’m going to have a copy of this play put in the cornerstone so people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about us.”
It’s a nice thought, but chances are that people 914 years from now won’t have to wait for a cornerstone to be cracked open. The script will still be readily available, you’ll still be able to see a production withing striking distance of your home.
Let’s hope that it’s as striking as Kenny Leon’stake on OUR TOWN.
