The story wanders all over the state of New Hampshire. The characters talk about the same things most of us talk about. They do the same things most of us do. The difference is: you’re on the outside looking in. No wonder this one scores. You read yourself in.
I’m centered on Driftwood’s current “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. The man’s no raving genius. But he’s got a way of blueprinting the basics. The place is Grovers Corners, early 20th century. The goings-on are living, loving and dying. The perspective is gratitude. Appreciate what you got. Not a bad way to look at things given the times, you think?
I don’t say Driftwood skyrockets through this simple tale of simple folks leading simple lives, when life in America was anything but complicated by today’s standards. Other productions I’ve seen packed more punch.
However, I’m not so sure pumping adrenaline is what’s involved. The gold that Driftwood goes for here is the mystery of the mundane; which is to say, the extraordinary nature of the ordinary. To that end, Mimi Katano’s directing keeps everything moving. Why wouldn’t it? Katano’s upbringing in Japan focuses an outside point of view on picture-postcard Americana in the good old days. She appreciates the universals.
Forget the linear. Nothing about this production goes in a straight line. The narrator talks to you. The dead speak. Time jumps all over the place. Sets amount to chairs and ladders. You fill in the blanks. You know? The way you wing it day-to-day?
Except you get a little help.
Tom Butterworth’s Stage Manager keeps you located, philosophizes with the big picture in mind and insinuates himself into your good graces. Besides that, his New England accent isn’t half bad.
What little story structure there is probably generates out of actors, Jessica Hendrickson and Andrew Gilkerson. They do a believable girl-next-door and boy-next-door, adolescence to marriage to death.
Same for Karl Holzheimer and Janice Hastings as town doctor and wife, parenthood to death. Same for David Bailey and Danette Meline as editor of town newspaper and wife. Bailey in particular adds in a bigger-than-life quality that fits. Public figures in small towns often stand out.
Bits by Janet McNeil as the town gossip spices things up. As do those by Keith Remon’s babbling professor and David Friedt’s town drunk.
The kids act like kids, period. What more could you ask? They are Chloe Bacik, Ricky Warren and Logan McGill.
So where does all this go to?
I think Emily’s (Bacik) question to Stage Manager (Butterworth) gets at it. “Does anybody appreciate life when they are living it?” she asks.
“Poets and saints, maybe” is the answer.
This one won’t knock your socks off, but give it a chance. It will ease you into a comfortable frame of mind. It did me.
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at entfeatures@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@camcast.net.
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