Wolfeboro Village Players present 'Our Town' as symphony of life

When the lights come up this weekend at Village Players Theater, audience members will check their playbills. They’ll wonder: “Am I in an orchestra hall? Are those musicians filing onto stage, seating themselves on stools, switching on lights of music stands, casually adjusting portfolios, arranging reading glasses?”

And then they’ll receive their answer: This play is called "Our Town." It was written by Thornton Wilder; directed by Scott Lounsbury…Veteran actor Mandy Ferriman is the voice of authority, the conductor of this performance of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Always intended by Thornton Wilder to be spare in production, director Lounsbury takes this “Our Town” to new, elegant heights. The actors are instruments. The words and sound effects sing, bringing new resonance to Wilder’s assertion that his play represents the beauty found in the commonplace: the neighbor’s voice, the call of crickets, the mother warning you’ll catch your death of cold. Lounsbury captures the undercurrent of melody around us all, and puts voice to it in original compositions that pair with traditional hymns marking events common to us all. 

Without the crutch of costumes, make-up, sets or props, actors eagerly embrace Wilder’s words and breathe life into their characters through voice and face alone. “Transformations have been remarkable,” says Assistant Director Rosemary Lounsbury. “Vivienne Dauphinais as Emily Webb is just outstanding.” The 14-year-old from Rochester was last seen on the Village Players stage as Amaryllis in The Music Man. Throughout the show, she distinctively spans ages from 12 to 26, equally at home as a wide-eyed pre-teen, a smug teenager, and wife and mother madly in love with her family.

A special Q & A on the creative process of this production of “Our Town” will take place with director and composer Scott Lounsbury and members of the cast and crew after the performance on Friday, Aug. 2.

Theater lovers of all ages are invited to experience this fresh new production of Our Town at the air-conditioned Village Players Theater in Wolfeboro at 51 Glendon Street on Fridays & Saturdays from July 26 to Aug. 3 at 7:30, and Sunday, August 4 at 2 pm. Tickets for all performances are available at www.village-players.com, at Black’s on Main Street in Wolfeboro, and at the theater door if not sold out.