Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Our Town: A Play in Three Acts
    Unavailable
    Our Town: A Play in Three Acts
    Unavailable
    Our Town: A Play in Three Acts
    Ebook265 pages2 hours

    Our Town: A Play in Three Acts

    By Thornton Wilder

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “[Our Town] leaves us with a sense of blessing, and the unspoken but palpable command to achieve gratitude in what remains of our days on earth.”— New Yorker

    Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of life in the mythical village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire—an allegorical representation of all life—is an American classic. It is the simple story of a love affair that asks timeless questions about the meaning of love, life, and death.

    Our Town explores the relationship between two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, and then culminates in marriage. When Emily loses her life in childbirth, the circle of life portrayed in each of the three acts—childhood, adulthood, and death—is fully realized.

    Often considered one of the greatest American plays of all time, Our Town is also Wilder's most frequently staged play. It debuted on Broadway in 1938 and continues to be performed daily on stages all around the world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 18, 2014
    ISBN9780062232632
    Unavailable
    Our Town: A Play in Three Acts
    Author

    Thornton Wilder

    Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works, exploring the connection between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, continue to be read and produced around the world. His Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of seven novels, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, as did two of his four full-length dramas, Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943). Wilder's The Matchmaker was adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly!. He also enjoyed enormous success with many other forms of the written and spoken word, among them teaching, acting, the opera, and films. (His screenplay for Hitchcock's Shadow of Doubt [1943] remains a classic psycho-thriller to this day.) Wilder's many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Committee's Medal for Literature.

    Read more from Thornton Wilder

    Related to Our Town

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Armchair Dramatics

      May 6, 2020

      Armchair Dramatics
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Revival For The Ages

      Apr 14, 2020

      A Revival For The Ages
      4 min read

    • Article

      Swansongs And Southern Discomfort

      Oct 27, 2022

      THE BORDERLAND BETWEEN popular fiction and literary fiction is now fertile territory. Once upon a time it was easy to tell them apart. Popular and genre fiction were in small format paper-backs, literary fiction larger: now all have been promoted to

      6 min read

    • Article

      Love And Dedication Can Conquer All

      Mar 18, 2020

      CRITICS are often snooty about amateur theatre. Kenneth Tynan described it as ‘an exhibitionist alternative to bridge’ and James Agate, in his heyday at The Sunday Times, used to say that the difference between amateur and professional actors was tha

      4 min read

    • Article

      Out Of One, Many

      Sep 15, 2023

      Out Of One, Many
      9 min read

    • Article

      Jim Broadbent

      Mar 6, 2020

      Jim Broadbent
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Theater No. 19

      Sep 12, 2023

      The Art of Theater No. 19
      28 min read

    • Article

      Oldies Make The Best Holiday Companions

      Jul 28, 2022

      ON THE PENETRATING QUESTION of what fiction to take on holiday, this year The Critic offers a novel approach. Why heft around the Dolomites the bulk of an untested hardback, by a wet-behind-the-ears author who isn’t even dead yet, when you can halve

      6 min read

    • Article

      Cathedrals Made of Bricks

      Nov 25, 2019

      Cathedrals Made of Bricks
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Timely Provocations of Matthew Gasda

      Sep 13, 2023

      'Dimes Square' portrays what it’s like for creatives—wherever they are—to survive in the competitive art ecosystem of today. The post The Timely Provocations of Matthew Gasda appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      What a Great Talker She Was

      Sep 1, 2020

      What a Great Talker She Was
      8 min read

    • Article

      Debutant Novels And Great Expectations

      May 27, 2021

      PULL UP YOUR CHAISE LONGUE for a tale of two debut novels which gives an insight into publishing in Britain. Debuts are fragile but commonplace things: like dandelion spores, they are sent out in their thousands in the knowledge that most will fall o

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Old Un’s Notes

      Oct 20, 2021

      The Old Un’s Notes
      6 min read

    • Article

      Best Of The Year That Was

      Dec 23, 2020

      Best Of The Year That Was
      5 min read

    Reviews for Our Town

    4/5

    27 ratings17 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This three act play depicts everyday and ordinary life in a small New Hampshire town called Grover's Corners between the years 1901 -1913. The Stage Manager narrates the story to the audience, as well as interacts with the actors. I remember seeing Thornton Wilder's play acted out on stage many years ago. It's a very easy-to-read text which all of a sudden surprises you with some really profound ideas. Ordinary life is actually quite extraordinary...As the stages of life are cycled through, the question is asked, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? A book that offers something for younger (adult) readers and older alike; I think middle school and high school students would enjoy reading this aloud.
    • 1/5
      Yyyyyyyeahhhhh, so this is pretty much the play version of a Norman Rockwell painting, right? I mean...terribly sentimental and conservative and folksy? Is there something more in his other plays? I should have read Skin of our Teeth, I heard there was a dinosaur.

      I can't remember anything I've read where I felt an author was trying this hard not to startle his audience. This is drama for the rest home.

      Two stars instead of one because fine, I'm not heartless, there were some sweet moments. But yeesh...that don't make this no bullshit. Bring back Eugene O'Neill.

      Never mind: one star instead of two because the more I think about this play, the more I hate it.
    • 5/5
      Set in the 1910s, the play Our Town, depicts a small town at the cusp of the industrial revolution. Wilder is innovative in his use of the stage manager as a character/narrator in the play, and little scenery. He also creates characters that have died but are still involved in the play as onlookers. Whie it is not a wildly exciting play, there is definitely an important message in the everday acts of the characters. Life is short and we should do our utmost to truly enjoy it! This sentiment alone makes it an enduring classic applicable to modern life. Another aspect of the play that is important to note is the time period in which it is set. The setting provides readers/viewers with a picture of life before America was transformed into an urban/industrial nation. As time goes by, one wonders if the heart of Amerian society still rests with the yeoman farmer of Thomas Jefferson's vision for the United States. The play reminds of us of some of the benefits of a small rural community.
    • 4/5
      Great play about the foundation of everyday life in America. One thing I liked about the book was the character interactions among each other. I thought Wilder did an excellent job bringing out the basic conversations that people have with each other. For example how Mr. Gibbs talked to George about doing chores, Emily and Georges conversation on the walk home and the Parents talk to Emily and George before the wedding were a great look into how we deal with each other. One thing I did not necessarily like about the book is that it was very optimistic and withheld a lot of details about the dis-functions of a small town. Yes, Wilder did talk about death and the town drunk and how people dealt with that, but there is a lot more conflicts that take place; even in Grovers Corner that Wilder fails to mention. Overall, this play is an insightful play about everyday life.
    • 5/5
      The most performed play in the American repetoire. A thought provoking play of time, mortality and the significance of life.
    • 4/5
      We read this for our new book group. I had read it some time ago, but enjoyed reading it again. A wonderful play.
    • 5/5
      I read this play in my Junior year in high school and absolutely fell in love with it. I was blown away at how simple the story is, but it has so much to say. On getting to my Senior year I had a different English teacher who had never even heard of Thornton Wilder. I told him that he had to read this book, so when I graduated I gave him my copy.
    • 4/5
      I have to admit, I've never actually read it... I saw it performed (by East Union, I know, terrible) and I just loved it... I would like to read it, then perhaps the message would have impacted me even more. But just the simplicity of the story was striking, to me... It was profound even without serious studying.
    • 5/5
      The unremarkable simplicity of life depicted in the first two acts of Our Town may leave the reader asking why the lives of the characters are not heightened by more melodrama or suspense. However, in the third act, we discover that this is precisely Thorton Wilder's intent-- to reveal to his audience that while waiting for the perceived dramatic storyline that people expect from their lives, they miss all the lovely, small details that actually make up their life journey.
    • 2/5
      I read this play under rather odd circumstances. At the time I was in the middle of another (A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, which I have also reviewed), but my mom approached me and asked me to go through Our Town in order to talk my younger brother through a paper he had to write on the subject. He hated it, and I can't say I thought much more of it. Despite its classic status, you have to admit that this is one strange piece of literature. From the plot to the stage mechanics, everything strikes me as bizarre, and somewhat unsettling. It must have caused quite a stir when first staged. I did, however, find the juxtaposition of different views of reality interesting; there is the interpersonal, psychological reality shown through the dialogue and relationships, the "meat" of the play, and then there is the material reality represented by the figures and facts the stage manager recites. There is no doubt that Wilder knows what he's writing about; his representation of a small town is very convincing, just as it was in his masterful screenplay for Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt.
    • 4/5
      Rereading Our Town was a breath of fresh air. I remember having mixed feelings about the play in high school. However, I have a much improved impression of it as an adult.One common criticism of this play is that nothing seems to happen. However, I would suggest that the important elements in the play do not depend upon what happens. The action of the play is not the “thing.” Instead we are really treated to the emotion and reactions of the characters. And somehow, this provides the action of the play. It is the memorable reactions of the teenagers about to get married that engage the reader rather than the marriage itself. It is the character’s reaction to her own death that is gripping, rather than her death itself. The other element of the play that is exceptional is the way the author draws the reader into the heart of the town in a folksy, homey authentic manner. It does not feel coerced. Rather, one feels invited into the play like an invitation to a friend’s house. While the play is dated in certain ways, it does not affect its ability to feel like a play about any person in any city.
    • 5/5
      OK, I'm not proud (well, actually, I am, but I'm also humble enough to admit that I'm not). I love this play. It makes me smile. It jerks my tears. It makes me look up from the page and focus my eyes into the middle distance with a pensive look on my face and a warm feeling of charity in my breast. No matter however many tissue-thin layers of irony you lay over this play, it still hangs tough.
    • 4/5
      Thornton Wilder's play, Our Town, adequately captures the typical, American small town of the early 20th century where housewives spend their days preparing meals, raising children, and chatting with neighbors; husbands spout pearls of wisdom to whoever will listen, and teenagers muse their development with wide-eyed uncertainty. All this is presided over by a nameless stage manager who breaks the fourth wall to act as ringmaster and tour guide for what takes place in the play's three acts. At times, it seems he's given the lion's share of the dialogue just for the purpose of a continued, meandering exposition of town life that works to minimalize the continuity of the action elsewhere. He just as easily fades and what follows benefits from the information he provided so that the theatergoer always keeps him in mind. The stage manager is even cleverly called upon to portray several secondary characters along the way that add to his prominence to the events that unfold. The third act brings about a sobering development that in the end teaches the vital notion that all of life is precious, not just its bigs moments. With this disclosure, the entire play gels into a life lesson that induces a desire to watch it all over again for further insight into the human condition. This play can be used in a 12th grade English class as one recognized work students can analyze.
    • 5/5
      Somehow I have never read or seen the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. I have seen clips when performed in various movies or TV shows, but I knew very little of the story line. Over the weekend I decided a classic was just what I needed. It’s an extremely quick read, around 100 pages, and since it’s a play it reads very quickly. If you’ve never read it or seen the play, it’s definitely worth reading.The book makes you ask yourself questions. Do humans ever realize how wonderful life is while we live it? Even the mundane everyday tasks are beautiful. Life is a gift and so many of us don’t realize how truly wonderful it is till it’s over. The ending had me in tears and really made me reflect on how much of my life I take for granted.I also want to mention one of my favorite parts of the book. In Act II when they are discussing a soon to be wedding. The stage manager says: ” George and Emily are going to show you now the conversation they had when they first knew that… that… as the saying goes… they were meant for one another. But before they do it I want you to try and remember what it was like to have been very young. And particularly the days when you were first in love; when you were like a person sleep walking, and you didn’t quite see the street you were in, and didn’t quite hear everything that was said to you.”As soon as I read that I was reminded of the way I was when my husband Jeff and I first told one another how we felt about each other. It really described me so perfectly, I clearly remember his family teasing me because I seemed dazed all the time, and I never really seemed to hear them when they were talking to me. I really love how he captured “young love”.This book is a classic for a reason and I highly recommend it… 5 stars.
    • 3/5
      I've never seen the stage version of this work - and I've not read many plays. However, this play reads well as a literary work. Very insightful as to the commonalities of experiences between individuals of all cultures and across all generations.
    • 4/5
      I'm just starting this play in school as Mrs. Gibbs for a performance next month, and I really enjoyed the first readthrough. I found it, although slow at times, highly emotional and really deep in its message of the precious brevity of life. I think all of the characters are excellent and well developed, though Emily's character frustrates me at times. I love the message that this play sends- even in the most ordinary hum-drum circumstances, one can find beautiful relationships and loving people. The tough love that the characters show each other is accurate in its depiction of the era of this play. The ending had me close to tears, and I cannot wait to perform this classic on stage.
    • 4/5
      I had only read a mini version back in high school. It was very unappealing. Now, reading the whole thing, I enjoyed it very much. It gives one pause to appreciate the day to day events. This is something which I have long pondered. How my small little life and daily events can be pleasing to God. It's obvious that everyone can't do great things every day for God, and most don't do great things all thier lives. Yet I cannot feel that He is displeased with the day to day small things. In fact, I believe He is most pleased when we realize the importance and the blessing of these small joys and trials prsented to us each day. This play really gets one thinking. I love a story which does that.