Our Town

The play “Our Town” explores the lives of people (primarily two families) living in a small and quiet American town in the 1900’s. In the first act entitled “Daily life”, the narrator did a good job of guiding the audience’s imagination to set up the ideas of a town in the early 1900’s. The lighting and sound cues made that very successful. The lighting was on cue and was very good at setting the scenes (i.e. brighter for morning sunrise). Realistic sets and props were minimal but, the performers pantomimed the majority of the play. The performers did a good job of conveying the imagery use of cooking, opening doors, and eating food. The performers were so believable that your imagination wasn’t very hard to use because things came to sight as if it was really on stage. The costumes of the performers set the age of the play and made you believe that you were in an earlier day and age. In act one, you follow the lives of the Gibbs family and the Webb family. Dr. Gibbs appears hardworking and is soft-spoken. Mrs. Gibbs is good in portraying that her husband is overworked and should take a vacation. Rebecca is George’s little sister. George seems scared or nervous in the delivery of his lines. There is many long pauses before he speaks as if he has forgotten his lines. He wasn’t enthusiastic at all. George seems not to understand or express the character's motivation. In the Webb family, Mr. Webb is great in the delivery of his lines. Mrs. Webb portrays a strict but loving mother. Emily Webb their daughter is very bright and hopeful. Wally Webb is her younger brother. When Emily and George are talking to each other at their windows, he seems to forget his words. Without a stellar Emily, the emotional potential is lost. The cast seems as if it was dead before act three of the funeral. Act two is about love and marriage. This scene reflects the love between George and Emily. In act two, Emily rises as the star of the play. She is very clear in her words and motivated.