In this lesson, we examine the play our town by thornton wilder. Our town is a play by thornton wilder that was first performed in 1938. In the november 27, 2019 town newsletter, administrator ezovski wrote. Trifles is a play by susan glaspell in which several neighbors enter the wrights farmhouse to investigate the murder of john wright.
This study guide consists of approximately 24 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of our town. This study guide consists of approximately 51 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of countdown. In thornton wilders our town, emily webb and george gibbs grow up together and marry in the town of grovers corners. See a complete list of the characters in our town and indepth analyses of stage manager, emily webb, and george gibbs. Our town is a 1938 metatheatrical, threeact play by american playwright. For a better quality picture of this movie, go to youtube, type in our town 1940 and choose the one that has a length of 1. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of our town by thornton wilder. He tells them that they are about to see a play called our town about the town of grovers corners. Cliff notes by mike clifford every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice. Our town is one of the most performed and bestknown plays in american theater. Eaton adapted the lyrics with some rearrangement of parts of verses to a new melody he composed in a contemporary christmas music style.
Cliffsnotes formerly cliffs notes, originally cliffs notes and often, erroneously, cliffnotes are a series of student study guides. Formed in march 2017, each member of the band has brought a unique history of performance and music experience that has blended to create a. Under the title of m marries n, thornton wilder began working on the play that would become our town in 1935. Wisecrack is a collective of academics, filmmakers, artists, and pop culture junkies who are curious and contemplative about the world around us. Used to brush people off during a potentially longwinded story or explanation of current events. The guides present and create literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. The fathers of george and emily are small town professionals, intelligent and dedicated to their work. Fairly soon well be told by our leaders and a committee of political appointees that it makes more sense to build a new police station, instead of putting money into the current facility in order to prolong its useful life. That throwing an impudent delinquent from the top of the cliff just outside their town, though perhaps not a weekly occurrence, was something familiar enough to them that they didnt really have to hatch a plan. The brightest student in her school, she is very much aware of her good qualities. The lesson begins with a brief background of the author. Primarily written at the macdowell colony in peterborough, new hampshire, the town on which it is believed wilder modeled grovers corners, our town premiered at the mccarter theatre in princeton, nj on january 22, 1938. Emily dying and then realizing that she wasted many valuable moments within her life serves as the conflict in our town. Born in the midwest on april 17, 1897, he was educated in china, in german language schools, in america, and in rome.
First produced andpub lished in1938, atwhich timeitwonthe pulitzer prize, itsreputation asanameri canclassic hasincreased overtheyears. In fact, in the first two years that amateur companies were legally allowed to perform. After the introduction by the stage manager, the milkman and paper boy arrive and signal the official opening of the action of the play. Narrated by the stage manager, we follow the gibbs and webb families, residents of grovers corners, through twelve years of life changes from the. They are abbreviated, generally citing readily accessible documentary and secondary sources, rather than all the material that was consulted. A landmark in american drama, thornton wilders pulitzer prizewinning our town tells the story of a small town, grovers corners, new hampshire, in order to tell us the story of every town, the whole world over. These are words that were taken from thornton wilders play, our town. The play is especially popular in amateur productions, put on by schools or community groups. Little town is a new arrangement of the traditional christmas carol o little town of bethlehem by english singersongwriter chris eaton. One gets the sense that the men of nazareth had done this before. Read a plot overview of the entire play or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. Our town is a 1938 metatheatrical, threeact play by american playwright thornton wilder. The act opens with the appearance of the stage manager, who speaks directly to the audience.
Deceptively simple in structure and tone, the play represents many of the authors humanistic views. He is able to look into the future and announce when the first automobile will reach town. Composed of a group of red cliff colorado hooligans and skillful performers, the artists behind the cliff notes have earned their reputation as a talented band to look out for in the vail valley. Here at cliff notes by mike clifford, my posts usually focus on empo. As the house lights dim, he speaks directly to the audience, telling them who wrote and directed the play, as well as necessary facts about grovers corners, new hampshire, just across the massachusetts line he announces the time as being just. For 80 years, thornton wilders our town has awed audiences. The houselights dim as the stage manager moves about the stage.
At sixteen, she is at a stage of life where she concentrates on looks and appearance. Grovers corners, the town in which our town is set, might be out in the boonies of new hampshire and the dustbin of the past, but by titling his play our town, wilder hints that grovers corners exists outside of new hampshire, and outside of the early 1900s. It is a small town, roughly 2600 people, who mostly farm. The town they describe is grovers corners, new hampshire. In the spirit of true compliance with our town ordinance which requires public hearings on agreements of this nature, i expected the public hearing to be continued until the final agreement was presented and residents allowed the opportunity to address the terms of the. While most of the characters are plainspoken, wilder used more challenging words in his stage directions.
It was first recorded by english singer cliff richard and released as a single in the uk for the 1982. Wilders greatest and bestknown work as a playwright, our town opens with the stage managers introduction to grovers corners, a fictional town based on peterborough, new hampshire where wilder often spent his summers. In the opening scenes, she is entering young womanhood. First, the mother in each family tries to get her children up, dressed, fed, and off to school. The stage manager welcomes the audience into the theater as he introduces the people and places of grovers corners, new hampshire. Grovers corners is the perfect picture of an american town before urbanization automobiles are a novelty, everyone is up in each others business, and milk is still delivered fresh every.
Since the music is aaron copland, it can be found on cd. A fivepiece cover band, the cliff notes is made up of lead vocalist mallory parks, amelia neat and trevor lanpher on the guitar, paul kline playing bass and david dk ketterer on the drumsall of them having lived in red cliff. Royal exchange, manchester sarah frankcom stages thornton wilders 1938 drama with. Play summary act i, which wilder calls daily life, is a recreation of the normal daily activities found in a small new hampshire town. Our town pays tribute to traditional american hometown values. Study guide for our town by thornton wildersummary. We assign a color and icon like this one to each theme, making it easy to track which themes apply to each quote below. The movie is in many ways a documentary and so may not have to have a theme that comes around to a conclusion. Talking to strangers malcolm gladwell cliff notes november 24, 2019 november 24, 2019 admin gladwell demonstrates that we as humans, at our core, are trusting souls and we default to truth i. Get free homework help on thornton wilders our town. Print word pdf take our free our town quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge.
Our town quotes from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Free study guide for our town by thornton wilderbook summary. When the theater is completely dark, he introduces the play, naming the playwright, producers, director, and cast. Webb, who edits the local newspaper, the grovers corners. The play tells the story of the fictional american small town of grovers corners between 1901 and 19 through the everyday lives of its citizens. Our town has a very unique conflict in that the issue does not appear until the final act of the play, after the main character has died.
On a broader scale, one could see the conflict as the fact that humans miss out on myriad moments in their lives, and do not realize. Our town is introduced and narrated by the stage manager, who welcomes the audience to the fictional town of grovers corners, new hampshire, early on a may morning in 1901. Table of contents next page downloadable printable version. The first act describes their daily lives, the second act focuses on love and marriage, and the third act discusses death. In the opening scene, the stage is largely empty, except for some tables and chairs that represent the homes of the gibbs and webb families, the setting of most of the action in act i. Wilder then turned his full attention to drama, for which he is now best remembered. November 17, 2018 red cliff annual community thanksgiving dinner where. He produced our town in 1938 and the skin of our teeth in 1942. There are also quite a few words that have become antiquidated since the. Our town remains a perennial favorite among directors, particularly in small town productions. He delineates the layout of the town, pointing out six churches, the railroad tracks, the town hall and jail, the post office, and polish town, where the minority families live. This play by thornton wilder represents the daily lives of people in america from 1901 to 19. There must be something in red cliffs water since this rock group was formed within their own tiny town of 250 people.
In the first act, doc gibbs talks about delivering the goruslawski twins. A minimalist theatrical style sets apart the 1938 recipient of the pulitzer prize for drama. Shortened citations refer to works that are listed in full in the bibliography. The author and his times thornton wilder was one of the most cosmopolitan and sophisticated of american writers. This is the most popular free event that has been a local tradition for many years. The american playwrights delicate tale of small town american families at the turn of the 20th century is alive with humanity and poetry. These notes refer to the basic sources of evidence underlying the websites discussion and analysis.
Oup town by thornton wilder thisisadefinitive edition ofthornton wilders bestknown andmostfrequently performed play. Our town, our townyes, this play is about your town. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Litcharts makes it easy to find quotes by act, character, and theme. The stage manager arranges some tables and chairs on stage while the audience enters the theater, and then addresses the audience.