Seeing Our Town

As part of Michayla's birthday celebration, I took her to see Our Town last night up in Boulder. As an aside, I do find it a great deal of fun to see the entire lineup at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. I love seeing the actors in such a variety of shows and characters. To see one woman move from Kate in Taming to Goneril in Lear to Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town is priceless.

But back to the show. It was a wild night. In the first act, a fellow patron passed out. He was one of the younger folks in the audience, not one I would have expected to have medical issues, but it was scary. The woman with him stood up to help him out and he just crumpled to the ground. He hit his head of course. If you have never been to the Mary Rippon outdoor theatre, the seats are tightly packed stone benches. He lay under a bench for some time waiting for the medical personnel while the dear man playing the Stage Manager kept going, like a trooper. Finally two techies came and helped him move to the back of the theater and then a few moments later, an ambulance crew showed up and removed him on a stretcher.

We then took the long pause between Act I and Act II. These pauses are critical, I think to giving this show the punch it needs. You need the sense of time passing. While I am on this subject, let me just address what it means to act in this show. I have played Emily, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb at different stages of my life, in various productions. I love this play. It speaks to my soul. But it really is a nightmare to perform. I was explaining to Michayla on the way home how much additional rehearsal was required in order to work totally free of a set and props. This particular production had more of a set than I have ever seen and it kind of bothered me. I really do love it when it is just done with the two ladders and the board and the couple of stools. But as an actor, getting all of that mime down is tricky. Only one of the actors in the show last night slipped up on that, that I could see. I got the giggles with Michayla when I pointed out the discrepancy. Mrs. Webb's counter kept changing height levels. Aside from this, it was well executed.

In Act II, the heavens opened. Yes, we were in an outdoor theater. When the rain got serious, the called for a delay. I was praying so hard for it to at least let up so that we could see the end. All of the people that I was with had not seen the show and I was devastated at the thought of having it end in the middle. This show has such power and I dearly wanted, especially Michayla, to hear those closing lines. Luckily, my prayers, or something, worked. We were able to settle in and watch it through to the end, with only light sprinkles. Because of the rain delay, they chose not to take the long pause between Acts II and III. But I think the message got across just fine anyway.

This show, and the words of Mr. Wilder, are powerful reminders of just how aware we need to be of every moment that passes. We must open our eyes and see all that is ours and have intense gratitude for all that we have and love more deeply and repent more readily.

See this show if you ever have the chance. Do not see the Hollywood movie version. It is an affront to Mr. Wilder's purpose. They change the ending and it loses its impact. See it live, that is the only way to go!