Abril Chihuahua

January 26, 2016

Our town Essay
Our town by Thornton Wilder, is a play about a small fictional town named Grovers
Corners between 1900s - 1930s. In Our town we are introduced to two families, the Webb and
the Gibbs, living very casual and rather simple lives. In this essay you will be reading about how
the role of the Stage Manager affects the play. By using the Stage Manager to control time and to
act as the bridge between the audience and the actors, Wilder challenges the theory that great
drama must use elaborate staging and conventional expository techniques in order to be relatable.
To begin with by using the Stage Manager to control time, Wilder challenges the theory
that great drama must use elaborate staging and conventional expository techniques in order to
be relatable.
In the beginning of the play, the Stage Manager tells the audience, Want to tell you
something about that boy Joe Crowell there. Joe was awful bright... head of his class... got a
scholarship to Massachusetts tech...Goin to be a great engineer... But the war broke out and he
died in France... All that education for nothing. (9). Here you see that the Stage Manager is
letting the audience know what will happen to the character Joe in the future. The Stage Manager
proofs that he can controls time and is not from this time period since he is telling this play more
like a story then a considerably more traditional drama performance. In every new act he tends to
say something along the lines of Three years have gone by (47). Here you see that the Stage
Manager has control over the time in which the story takes place. The Stage Manager is the one
that controls the characters lives. The ability of the Stage Manager controlling time is not in line
with the rules of theater. The Stage Manager does not usually have as many lines, or is much of a

Abril Chihuahua
January 26, 2016
Our town Essay
storyteller in the usual context of what a Stage Manager should be in plays. Yet, this is a
unique tactic that Wilder uses in his play Our town.

Not only does the Stage Manager control time, but also acts as the bridge between the
audience and the actors. In the first act of Our town, Wilder suggests that there should be almost
no prompts on the stage. Insead, Wilder uses the Stage Manager to give the audience a more
understanding view of how the stage is set up. The Stage Manager says Up here is Main
Street...(4). Here you see that Wilder decides to make the Stage Manager tell you a story by
making the audience visualize the setting, therefore making the play more intemet for the
audience, as they are now in charge of remembering where the story takes plays and are in a
special way part of the play. Just one page after that, another example occurs the the Stage
Manager states, He approaches the table and chairs downstage right This is our doctors
house,- Doc Gibbs.(5). Here you see that instead of the character telling you slowly whom they
are, the Stage Manager narrates and lets you know who all of the characters are. He speaks as if
he is introducing the audience to a friend, he is the bridge, he includes the audience in the play.

Most importantly, Wilder challenges the theory that great drama must use conventional
expository techniques, such as background knowledge about the actors without the use of direct
dialogue. In the play the Stage Manager is the one to give you knowledge about the actors
without lines having to be said by the actual characters themselves. In the first paragraph of this
essay you read that the Stage Manager is not from the same time period as the characters and as
well is somehow able to predict their lives. With this, the Stage Manager describes the characters

Abril Chihuahua
January 26, 2016
Our town Essay
lives and shapes them, as he does, he is sure to tell you simple background knowledge about the
characters. Such as letting the audience know in the first few pages of the play, something that
should be revealed in the last act. Mrs. Gibbs died first-... (7) . Here you see that the audience
now knows some sort of significant point in the plot of the story. The Stage Manager has already
condemned a character to death. The Stage Manager built her life and many others, but now the
audience knows this is going to happen and it won't be a big surprise. This is quite unusual,
considering the fact that most writers would prefer for the characters themselves to reveal
background information, such as this, through expository dialogue. In the Act III, the Stage
Manager is able to speak with the deceased, and is able to travel through time, constantly
reminding the Character of what is happening. You not only live it; but you watch yourself
living it... All right. February 11 1899... (99-101). Here you see that even with the dead, the
Stage Manager has control over what experience they may or may not have. The Stage Manager
is in charge of the simplicity in this play. Even though he doesnt state it, it becomes quite clear
to the audience. The simplicity of the play and the complex and mysterious ways of the Stage
Manager, the play becomes relatable to their everyday lives. Thus, making this one of the best
dramas of all time.

Overall. Wilder uses the Stage Manager to control time through character revelation and
stating the time period at the beginning of each act, to control the stageing throughout the play to
create audience involvement and become the bridge between the actors, to challenge the theory

Abril Chihuahua
January 26, 2016
Our town Essay
that great drama must use conventional expository techniques in order to be relatable by making
an atmosphere of creative thought through the use of simple life and human emotions.