Play review

My first exposure to Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" was in my high school senior year many years ago when I overacted in the role of Mrs. Soames. Recently I watched the Calabasas High School performance of this play, directed by Bill Garrett. My life experiences in the intervening years gave me new insights into the script, ably assisted by fine work from the young thespians.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play takes place in the small town of Grover's Corner in New Hampshire, where most people born there grow up and die there. It's an insular village where everybody's business is well known.

Despite its turnofthe20th century setting, Grover's Corner isn't much different from modern cities, with its segregated "Polishtown" for immigrants and persons of color, relationships between parents and children, complacency of the middle class, lack of "culture," juvenile delinquency, and the townspeople ignoring the problems of their alcoholic neighbor.

"Our Town" has been produced by most schools, not only for its universal themes but for its ease and low costs. The play was written for minimal production, with no scenery or props. The Calabasas show used no flats or backdrops, and only a few chairs and tables carried on and off stage in view of the audience. The actors mimed their "props;" women "cooked" in the kitchen, a difficult task which most of the students carried off well.

To compensate for lack of scenery, the production efficiently used colorful lighting effects and on-cue sound effects. Lovely original music composed by Claude Foisy set the mood at the beginning of the acts. Terry Simons designed the large number of authentic period costumes.

With nothing on stage to keep the audience's interest except the actors, the play demands skillful acting. The student actors didn't disappoint. The major roles were double cast, so I only saw one set of performers, the Gold Cast from the Saturday matinee, but I'm sure the Brown Cast was just as good.

The principle role is the Stage Manager, who speaks to the audience and talks it through the action. David Burris presented a folksy storytelling character. He drew in the audience and made us want to hear more. He handled huge monologues without a slip and had the stamina to stay in character on stage for almost the entire show.

The Stage Manager introduces the main characters. Steven Somers and Brittany Urick played Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs, next-door neighbors to the newspaper editor and his wife, Mr. (Mike Thompson) and Mrs. (Michelle Beard) Webb.

I especially liked Urick, whose character shares with Mrs. Webb her longing to visit Paris and her husband's reluctant to let her travel. At the play's end we learn she never made that trip and instead left her travel money to her children. One sensed the deep sense of loss from the unfulfilled dream.

Two of the Gibbs and Webb children, George Gibbs (Alex Horwitch) and Emily Webb (Carly Bondar) fall in love as teenagers and marry soon after high school graduation. The audience follows their budding romance, watches the nervousness of their wedding day, and cries at young Emily's funeral.

Horwitch gives a good portrayal of an awkward teen boy who struggles with a shyness around girls, yet manages to win Emily's heart.

The program states that this is Bondar's first high school show, which I find hard to believe. She gave a strong performance. Her Emily was full of confidence in Act 1 as she brags that she's one of the school's brightest students. Her sorrow in Act 3, where she looks back on her life and grieves at her family's missed opportunities for communication, broke my own heart as well.

Tyler Alexis and Taylor Shubert played the siblings, Rebecca Gibbs and Wally Webb, respectively. Both did well in their roles, teasing their sister/brother and feeling remorse after a parent's scolding.

Many other students played various Grover's Corner residents. Some were seen for only a few moments but made a huge impression. Three standouts include Jacob Best as Professor Willard, Meghan Sanett as Mrs. Soames and Robert Nichols as Simon Stimson.

Best excelled in his hilarious cameo as the flustered but eager scientist who couldn't find his notes. Sanett stole the scene when she was on stage as the town gossip and busybody who could get a laugh from a gesture. Stimson showed the frustration of dealing with his demons as the town drunk.

Young actors sometimes have difficulty with emotional scenes, but these performers did wonders with Act 3, which takes place in a cemetery where the permanent residents make small talk with each other. Even Burris was in real tears as he shared thoughts about death and the wasted opportunities of the living. I'm sure many in the audience went home that day and reflected on their lives and hopes.