WILLIAMSVILLE — The newly-formed Rock River Players present Thornton Wilder's Our Town Aug. 27-30 at Williamsville Hall.
In its review of the 1938 opening on Broadway, The New York Times hailed Our Town as “hauntingly beautiful,” endowed with “immortal truth” with its understated, but resonant depiction of a quest we all share - to find love and fulfillment, and to appreciate life's abundance and minutiae.
In writing the Pultizer Prize-winning Our Town, Wilder joined others, such as Robert Frost, who searched for purpose and meaning in America after World War I and the Depression. New England held traditional American values, as well as the dreams that had built the nation; by setting the play in small town New Hampshire, Wilder tapped a rich cultural, social, and political past.
Our Town depicts ordinary lives and ordinary events, yet it leads the audience to contemplate the significance of one's own life. Even if an audience has never known such a town, at the core, “our town” does, indeed, belong to us all.
The company features Stewart McDermet as Stage Manager, Miles Keefe as Editor Webb, Cris Parker-Jennings as Mrs. Webb, Addie Mahdavi as Emily Webb, and John Parker-Jennings as Wallace Webb.
Charles Tower is Dr. Gibbs; Debbi Reed-Savory, Mrs. Gibbs; Tino Benson, George Gibbs; Jackie Parker-Jennings, Rebecca Gibbs. Bruce Landenberger is Simon Stimson; Kayla Williams is Mrs. Soames; Patrick Hauer is Howie Newsome.
The cast is rounded out by various townsfolk played by Bill Lincoln, Caitlin Hamm, Carol Hatcher, George Reed-Savory, Joe Metzler, Luke Parker-Jennings, Mary Jo Metzler, Susan O'Hara, and Micky Parker-Jennings.
Bruce Landenberger is music director; Alice Gausch, pianist, Bonnie Haug-Cramp and Lauri Miner, crew; Kayla Williams is costume assistant; George Reed Savory is production stage manager, and Annie Landenberger directs.