[NoHo Arts District, CA] – The Group Rep is proud to present Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic American play Our Town, directed by Mareli Mitchel-Shields and produced by Cynthia Payo and Tamir Yardenne.
About Our Town
Emily Webb begins the play overjoyed at a successful speech she gave at school. She interacts briefly with her possible suitor/next-door neighbor George Gibbs, and suddenly, they’re getting married. After giving birth to their second child – and through a strange twist of fate – Emily gets to relive a special day of her life, but finds the experience illuminating and simultaneously tormenting, realizing she took her wonderful life for granted. Our Town beautifully and poetically re-creates a theatrical picture of small-town USA and the precious nature of life we all seem to take for granted. Themes of family, home, cycles, and the value of companionship resonate profoundly as they are woven lovingly into this tapestry/portrait of life in America.
Our Town has been the recipient of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 1989 Tony Award for Best Revival, and the 1989 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival.
What critics have said about Our Town:
“Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece… An immortal tale of small-town morality… a classic of soft-spoken theater.” – The New York Times
“Beautiful and remarkable one of the sagest, warmest and most deeply human scripts to have come out of our theatre… A spiritual experience.” – New York Post
“No American play describes more powerfully how we imagine ourselves.” – New York Daily News
“No play ever moved me so deeply.” – Alexander Woolcott, The New Yorker
“Our Town is titanic: beyond time and brutal…The ‘our’ in the title means everyone.” – The New York Times
“The magic of Our Town lies in its simple, at times poetic, language and its laconic appreciation of existence. The play’s depth lies in its poignant commentary on our complacency in the face of the vast wonders – and tragedies – around us. – The Arts Fuse
What award-winning and notable playwright Edward Albee said about Our Town:
“While all of Wilder’s work is intelligent, non-synthetic and often moving, as well as funny, it is Our Town that makes the difference. It is probably the finest play ever written by an American.” – Edward Albee, Playwright
The Cast
The Group Rep cast features the talents of Casey Alcoser, Tom Allen, Fox Carney, Kathi Chaplar, Christina Conte, Jeff Dinnell, Noah Dittmer, Georges Patry, Cynthia Payo, Lloyd Pedersen, Faye Reynolds, Steve Rozic, Rob Schaumann, Lewis Snow, Daisy Staedler, Neil Thompson, Larry Toffler, Cathy Diane Tomlin, Dianne Travis and John C. Woodley.
The Team
The Our Town production team includes M. Mitchel-Shields (Set Design), Noemi Barrera (Lighting Design), Ramona Reeves (Costume Design), Kathi Chaplar (Music Director), Bojana Jelovac (Assistant to the Director), Denise Downer (Marketing), Nora Feldman (Public Relations), Art & Soul Design (Graphic Design), Doug Haverty (Artistic Council Liaison), Kristin Stancato (Webmaster & Online Marketing), Alex Salkin (Stage Manager), Jackie Shearn and Caitlin Mae Smith (Social Media), Doug Engalla (Promotional Video & Photography), and is produced for The Group Rep by Cynthia Payo and Tamir Yardenne.
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