Our Town

 Our Town
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
September 28, 2024 

Photo courtesy of Our Town

Director Kenny Leon brings Thornton Wilder’s Our Town into the 21st Century.  His casting choices are purposeful and comprehensive.  His timing is compact and concise.  He trimmed down this three act classic to a one hour, forty-five-minute running time, with no intermission.  The action flows continuously, and the pace impacts the theme.  Even though a few of the quaint, defining moments are missed, Thornton Wilder’s words and philosophy ring with effortless sincerity, giving the audience timeless truths to contemplate.

Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly First Look

The play opens as the cast slowly assembles on stage singing a spiritual hymn that unites an extensive population.  The Stage Manager (played by Jim Parsons) silently enters.  As the cast disperses, he welcomes the audience, introduces the play, and describes the town.  He presents the characters, focusing on the Gibbs and Webb families.  Dr. Gibbs (played by Billy Eugene Jones) is returning from delivering twins on the other side of town, as Mrs. Gibb (played by Michelle Wilson) and their neighbor, Mrs. Webb (played by Katie Holmes), prepare breakfast for their families.  It is a day in the life of the residents of Grover’s Corners.  Time passes with ease and grace. 

Ephraim Sykes, Richard Thomas, & Zoey Deuth
Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly First Look

The action swiftly moves into the second act with the wedding of George Gibbs (played by Ephraim Sykes) and Emily Webb (played by Zoey Deutch).  The pace picks up.  The anticipation of this event is high and full of anxiety.  The Stage Manager takes us back a few years to the day that George and Emily discover that they are meant to be together for the rest of their lives.  This is a life changing moment for them.  We move forward to the nuptials, when Mrs. Soames (played by Julie Halston) proclaims that it is a beautiful wedding. 

Act III is where Thornton Wilder makes his statement about life and eternity.  It is in this act that every subtle detail from Acts I and II are profoundly seamed together.  The writing is poignant and touching.  The action is unexpected and reflective.  The journey might end here, but the experience continues to exist in perpetuity. 

Jim Parsons as the Stage Manager
Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly First Look

The hymn sung in the opening is “Braided Prayer” by Abraham Jam, which features prayers from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths.  Anyone knowing this play is aware that this is a new addition, and a brilliant one.  The audience is immediately pulled into an experience that extends beyond the scope of any previous production.  With interracial casting and the casting of a deaf actor playing Howie Newsome (John McGinty), the diversity of Our Town now reflects who we are as a nation.  The ease in which the characters communicate in sign language and live together as a united multiracial community speaks volumes.  This story has always been universal, and now, due to Mr. Leon’s vision, is fully inclusive.

Our Town is playing at The Ether Barrymore Theatre.  It is a new interpretation of a great American classic. 

Domenick Danza

Sweat

Sweat

Studio 54

May 21, 2017

Photo courtesy of Sweat

Sweat is a truthful telling of the social and economic events that took place in this country during the years 2000 through 2008 that allows us to clearly reflect on how America has become the divided nation it is today.  Through interviews and research, Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright Lynn Nottage has written authentic characters who struggle with challenges and face consequences that cause their lives to spiral out of control.  Her characters blindingly face their fears and frustrations head on. 

Tracey (played by Johanna Day), Cynthia (played by Michelle Wilson), and Jessie (played by Alison Wright) are close friends who have worked together on the factory floor in Reading, Pennsylvania for decades.  They are proud that they come from a long line of factory workers.  The year is 2000, and economic disruption is about to crumble the world they have come to know.  Cynthia accepts a promotion into a management position at the factory at the same time that the union contract is being challenged and factory jobs are being relocated to Mexico.  Non-English speaking residents are recruited as scabs during a union walk-out.  Fear, frustration, and betrayal build to heated anger and acts of violence from which there is no return.

Michelle Wilson & Johanna Day
Photos courtesy of Sweat

Johanna Day and Michelle Wilson shine in these brilliantly written, juxtaposed characters.  They build a relationship based on years of trust and reliability that brutally flips during the course of events.  They are the driving force that propels the action of the play.  Their portrayals are riveting, true, and genuine.  James Colby plays Stan, the bartender at the local watering hole.  His character is the neutral, rational negotiator throughout the play.  His portrayal is strong and warm-hearted.  Khris Davis and Will Pullen play younger workers at the factory who face a future with more choices than their parents.  These two actors complement one another amazingly well.  They create characters who face their challenges with opposite points of view.  They are viscerally connected and deliver powerful performances.  

Photo courtesy of Sweat

Kate Whoriskey masterfully directed this superb ensemble cast.  She skillfully builds tensions that explode with powerful human emotions.  The scenic design by John Lee Beatty is brilliant.  The set spins into place, keeping the pace moving quickly.  Lighting Design by Peter Kaczorowski sets a realistic tone, and Projection Design by Jeff Sugg keeps the audience grounded in the time period.

Will Pullen, James Colby, & Khris Davis
Photos courtesy of Sweat

What makes Sweat so powerful is that it is personal.  The emotional upheaval that takes place in the lives of the characters over the eight year span is understood and shared by every member of the audience.  Each character is clearly developed to present a different perspective of the effect of the economic changes in the working class during the years 2000 through 20008.  Ms. Nottage offers a glimpse of hope in the final moment of the play that empowers us to move forward with unity.

Domenick Danza