Our Town facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Our Town
1938 first edition cover from the Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division
Written by	Thornton Wilder
Characters	Stage Manager Mrs. Myrtle Webb Mr. Charles Webb Emily Webb Joe Crowell Jr. Mrs. Julia Gibbs Dr. Frank F. Gibbs Simon Stimson Mrs. Soames George Gibbs Howie Newsome Rebecca Gibbs Wally Webb Professor Willard Woman in the Balcony Man in the Auditorium Lady in the Box Constable Warren Si Crowell Three Baseball Players Sam Craig Joe Stoddard
Date of premiere	January 22, 1938
Place of premiere	McCarter Theatre Princeton, New Jersey
Original language	English
Subject	Life and death in an American small town
Genre	Drama
Setting	1901 to 1913. Grover's Corners, New Hampshire near Massachusetts.

Our Town is a famous play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which is a very important award.

The play tells the story of a small, made-up American town called Grover's Corners. It shows what life was like there between the years 1901 and 1913. You get to see the everyday lives of the people who live in this town.

What makes Our Town special is how it's performed. It uses a style called metatheatre. This means the play knows it's a play! The main character, called the stage manager, talks directly to the audience. He even brings in other characters to explain things or answer questions. The play is performed on a mostly empty stage without many props. Actors pretend to use objects, which makes you use your imagination!

Our Town was first shown in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1938. It became very popular on Broadway and won its big award. Many people, including famous playwright Edward Albee, have called it one of the best American plays ever. It's still performed often today.

Story of Our Town: A Summary

The play is divided into three acts, each showing a different part of life in Grover's Corners.

Act I: Daily Life in Grover's Corners

The Stage Manager introduces the audience to the town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. It's the year 1901, and a new day is beginning. He shows us the people living there and their morning routines.

We meet families like the Webbs and the Gibbs. Joe Crowell delivers the newspaper, and Howie Newsome delivers milk. The children, Emily Webb and George Gibbs, get ready for school. It's a simple, beautiful morning in their small town. A professor even talks about the town's history.

Act II: Love and Marriage in a Small Town

Three years have passed since Act I. George Gibbs and Emily Webb are now older and are getting ready to get married. It's a very busy and exciting day for them.

The milkman, Howie Newsome, is still delivering milk, even in the rain. George visits Emily's parents, feeling a bit nervous. The Stage Manager then takes us back in time one year. We see George and Emily talking about their future while sharing an ice cream soda. They realize they love each other. George decides not to go to college but to work on his uncle's farm instead.

Back in the present, both George and Emily feel a little scared about getting married. But they calm down and happily go through with their wedding.

Act III: Life, Death, and Memories

Nine years later, the play moves to the town's cemetery. The Stage Manager talks about how time passes and how life continues. We learn that some characters have passed away since the wedding. These include Mrs. Gibbs, Wally Webb (Emily's younger brother), Mrs. Soames, and Simon Stimson.

Emily has also died while giving birth to her second child. After her funeral, Emily's spirit joins the other people in the cemetery. Mrs. Gibbs tells her to forget her past life, but Emily wants to remember.

Emily decides to go back to Earth for one day to relive her 12th birthday. This memory is very emotional for her. She realizes how precious every moment of life is. She asks the Stage Manager if anyone truly understands how valuable life is while they are living it. He replies that maybe only "the saints and poets" do. Emily then returns to her grave. George kneels by her grave, crying. The Stage Manager ends the play, wishing the audience good night.

Main Characters

• Stage Manager – He is like a narrator and a guide for the audience. He tells us about Grover's Corners and its people. He also plays small roles in the play, like a minister or a shop owner. He even talks to Emily after she dies.
• Emily Webb – One of the main characters. We see her grow from a smart young girl to a wife and then experience her early death.
• George Gibbs – The other main character. He is the boy next door. He starts as a bit irresponsible but grows into a caring husband, father, and farmer.
• Dr. Frank Gibbs – George's father and the town doctor.
• Mrs. Julia Gibbs – George's mother. She dreams of visiting Paris but never gets the chance.
• Mr. Charles Webb – Emily's father and the editor of the town newspaper.
• Mrs. Myrtle Webb – Emily's mother.

Other Important Characters

• Joe and Si Crowell – The local paperboys. Joe is very smart but dies young in a war.
• Howie Newsome – The milkman, who is always seen delivering milk.
• Rebecca Gibbs – George's younger sister.
• Wally Webb – Emily's younger brother, who dies young from a burst appendix.
• Mrs. Louella Soames – A townswoman who enjoys gossiping.
• Simon Stimson – The town choir director, who has a sad life.
• Joe Stoddard – The town undertaker.
• Sam Craig – Mrs. Gibbs's nephew who returns to town for Emily's funeral.

How the Play Was Written

Thornton Wilder wrote Our Town when he was in his 30s. He worked on it in different places, including an artists' colony in New Hampshire. It's believed he wrote the entire third act very quickly during a visit to Switzerland.

Where the Play is Set

The play is unique because it's set in the actual theatre where it's being performed. The Stage Manager tells us that the year is always 1938 in the theatre. However, the story he tells, the "play-within-the-play," takes place in the made-up town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire.

The Play's Special Style

Wilder was not happy with the plays of his time. He felt they weren't honest enough. So, he created Our Town with a special style called metatheatrical. This means the play knows it's a play. The Stage Manager talks directly to the audience, breaking the "fourth wall" (the imaginary wall between actors and audience).

The play is performed with very little scenery or props. Actors often pretend to use objects. For example, when Emily and George talk through their upstairs windows, the actors stand on ladders to show their houses. Wilder believed that the true meaning of the play is in our minds, not in fancy sets. He wanted the play to be performed simply and sincerely.

Awards and Recognition

Our Town has won several important awards:

• 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
• 1989 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival
• 1989 Tony Award for Best Revival

Images for kids

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  Frank Craven as the Stage Manager in the original Broadway production of Our Town (1938)

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  Frank Craven, Martha Scott and John Craven in the original Broadway production of Our Town (1938)

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  Hal Holbrook as the Stage Manager in the 1977 television adaptation.