Our Town at Lookingglass was last night. I was ushering, so I had the fantastic opportunity to see the cast warming up beforehand and doing some last minute rehearsing. David Schwimmer walked past me in a track suit. You know, the usual. I really love ushering. I love feeling like I'm a part of the whole theatre experience. Really, all I'm doing is stuffing playbills and ripping tickets, but it's kind of nice to feel like you have a little authority even if you really don't. And Lookingglass is so great to usher for, because it's such a cool set up, and so intimate.Onto the show itself. I need first to talk about the set. Or lack thereof. There was nothing on the stage but a couple of chairs and two tables. No props. All the women wore the exact same outfit, the men did mostly. The actors essentially pantomined everything. They went through the motions of cooking breakfast, eating, drinking, all with only their hands. And here's the kicker - the entire set, the props, endless furniture, etc., were all hanging from the ceiling. Literally. There was a bathtub hanging above my head. It was unbelievable, and too cool. Here's a picture.
All of the actors were essentially the same age. You have David Schwimmer - who's got to be about forty by now - playing a 17-year-old, and so on and so forth. It was all very simple, very minimalist. And absolutely fantastic. You could see that this was lost on many people in audience. But the ones who got it seemed to really, really enjoy it.
I had never seen Our Town performed prior to this. But I remember the exact day when I read it. I was in Ocean City, Maryland with some friends - back when I was going to school in DC - and I read it on the beach. Because clearly, Thornton Wilder is appropriate beach reading. I fell in love with it then, a love that has only been strengthened after seeing it live. I can't recommend it enough.
This is such an excellent theatre month for me. Up next: a Bill Maher/Ann Coulter bloodbath at the Chicago Theater on Wednesday night.
Anyone who doesn't enjoy the minimalism behind Our Town is a moron, imo. I mean, it's pretty much the theme of the whole play, so it's like...why bother seeing it if you don't enjoy minimalism? Although it is occasionally hilarious when someone is reading an invisible newspaper and you can make an inappropriate comment on how they're a tool or something.
ReplyDeleteWait I forget, so you haven't seen the DVD of the Westport one?
Oooh, thank you for the reportage. Was Schwimmer actually good? That's a freaking great play. It's hard to screw up, it's just so beautifully, perfectly written. I've never formally ushered before. It sounds like fun...
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