There's a very thin line between good theater and bad theater. Throw in singing and dancing and it can go very right... or very wrong!! Make a "junior" version of something, it takes away from the soul of the very being that once brought that script to life. Speaking of life... Emily said,
“Do human beings ever realize life while they live it ?-every, every minute?” Quoting Emily Webb from
Our Town, by Thorton Wilder.
First came across Grover's Corner in 7th grade. As a kid... I loved reading plays. In class, we would take turns reading the lines. It was much more engaging than reading a novel. But this wasn't your typical play... with character development, challenge, overcome, and climax. If anything... it forced us to grow up before most of us were ready for it. All those words to say... did not like it.
Then some where / some time in the 90's... there was an episode of Growing Pains where perennial goofball and troublemaker Mike Seaver (played by Kirk Cameron) was in a high school play. He struggled with the play and was in it to get close to the female lead. But when it came time to deliver his line... to have his moment... he nails it.
George: "Emily... would you be...? Uhm... could you be...."
Emily: "I am now! I always have been...."
From that moment on... no one can deliver that line any better.
In high school... we had a chance to re-read it. And I still wasn't old enough to fully appreciate the passage of life. Haven't experienced love, marriage, death... the lowlight of that experience was Stewart butchering George's line. In the most mono-tone mutter - we completely lost the essence.
A few years ago, Wonder - the movie starting Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson.. tried to capture the moment through the life of their daughter Via. Originally the understudy, she was launched to leading lady on opening night... and like Kirk Cameron, she cemented how Emily should deliver the closing lines of Act 3. And all-hail her for her excellence... Julia Roberts with her teary eyes and massive grin puts her stamp of approval.
TKA High School Visual Performing Arts took on the challenge of Our Town. A bunch of teenagers.. awkwardly scrambling through three Acts of Life, Love, Death. Unlike Jr. High... who butchers the script but making them a junior version... the full on script stands on its own. Without being too critical of the acting and performance... Thorton Wilder is a legend in his own right and transcends time for reasons that appeal by the flow of diction, magnification of the little things, stopping to smell the grass by the flowers, the tugging of the heartstrings.
Looking past the overacting... the mis-cues... the soft attempts to be "adults"... they actors stood their grounds and owned their roles. Stage Manager... smoking a pipe and bringing the audience through this time machine. Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb.... cooking 3 meals a day for 20+ years... never taking a break. George and Emily... from childhood friends, to high school flirts, to the marriage.
Why have I never noticed the future son-in-law and future father-in-law scene? Why don't I remember George freaking out and.... and his mom of all people... slapping some sense into him? (I swear Elisa would've teared up) Why can't I recall Mr. Webb having a similar conversation with Emily? Or the long soliloquy about "marriage" being a destiny?
I guess... from an English class... we focus mainly on Act 3. "You must live life to have life. And you must have life to live life." or "I can't look at everything, hard enough." A melancholic ending... but a wake up call to a dozing audience. As such.. I ask myself... Do I ever realize life while I live it ?-every, every minute?”
And with every TKA performance... I especially get choked up during ovations when they point to the audience... point to the tech crew... and then point to the heavens. All glory to Jesus.
