Our Town
at St. Mark High School

Reviewed on December 14, 2019

Robynne Vlaming
St. Francis Xavier High School
Submitted for publication to Ottawa Citizen #1

Life, love, and death are all things that individuals experience, yet so seldom reflect upon in their daily lives. These themes were explored in a relatable manner in St. Mark High School's insightful production of Our Town.

Written by Thornton Wilder, Our Town uses a metatheatrical method of storytelling. With a narrator called Stage Manager, the play breaks the fourth wall between performers and audience, as this character is aware that the events taking place are part of a play. Told in three acts, the story details the lives of George Gibbs, Emily Webb, and their families from 1901 to 1913 in the small town of Grover's Corners. Within these years, the way in which mundane routine, love, and death shape the characters is revealed.

The earnest production of Our Town balanced serious tones of the story with humour through the usage of comedic timing from many actors. Working with a minimalist set and props, cast members effectively mimed their actions in a clear and precise manner. Actors consistently remained in character at all times by maintaining these mimed movements, helping to bring the community of Grover's Corner to life as well.

Carlos Sanchez's engaging rendition as George Gibbs displayed a wide range of emotions as his character developed on stage. From his boyish excitement to later grief in the face of losing his wife, Sanchez represented George well. His subtle movements, such as his bowed head as George was reprimanded, further complemented his role. Greer Truelove's heartfelt performance as Emily Webb embodied her character's innocent and caring nature. She conveyed emotion in ways such as nervousness through the subtle shaking of her hands and waver in her voice.

Carter Ibach's use of excellent cadence when portraying Stage Manager helped maintain the flow of the story throughout the production. His hand gestures and movements across the stage created a dynamic performance as well. Brynn Downey comically showcased Mrs. Soames' dramatic nature and need for attention through her over exaggerated expressions. Amanda Reinboldt's tone of voice utilized when speaking to her children encapsulated the motherly nature of her role as Mrs. Gibbs.

The lighting design of the show further enhanced the tone of each scene. The contrast between the yellow and blue lights in the final act helped distinguish between the living and the dead respectively, representing a happy versus sad mood as well. The hair and makeup styles applied to the actors also established the early 1900s setting. Hairstyles such as Mrs. Gibbs' rolled hair were impressive in their solidity and neat appearances.

St. Mark's heartfelt performance of Our Town was filled with emotion and relatability, which ultimately helped remind one of the importance of family, loved ones, and the joy in the little things in life.

Isabella MacKay
St. Francis Xavier High School
Submitted for publication to Ottawa Citizen #2

Stories are often told about the lives of athletes, master criminals, and powerful leaders because they offer people an escape from their mundane, regular lives. However, there are moments of loss, victory, love, and lessons to be learned in every seemingly unimportant day. St. Mark High School's production of Our Town beautifully showcased the wonders and excitement of ordinary life.

Our Town, written by Thornton Wilder, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938 for drama and has been celebrated for its uniqueness and metatheatrical themes of life, love, and death ever since. Unlike many other theatrical playwrights of the mid-twentieth century, Wilder reminds the audience they are watching a play and repeatedly breaks the fourth wall. Set in the fictional small town of Grover's Corners, Our Town describes the lives of the Webb and Gibbs families for over a decade. Our Town is ultimately about the everyday person and the simple pleasures of waking up, eating breakfast, and spending time with loved ones.

The cast of St. Mark High School's Our Town used a variety of theatrical techniques to develop the story, such as tableau and mime. While in tableau the students would freeze in place, often in uncomfortable positions, and maintain the statuesque stillness for long periods of time. With few physical props and set pieces, many interactive objects were mimed by the actors. The cast was able to realistically maintain the illusion by gesturing that the dimensions and positions of these items remained the same.

Carlos Sanchez played George Gibbs with an evolving boyish physicality that would cause him to bounce across the stage when elated, but slump his shoulders and quiver his lip when sad. Greer Truelove portrayed Emily Webb with the nervous mannerisms of a girl in love, like playing with her hair or expressing the sorrow-filled sobs of a woman torn from her family. Together, Sanchez and Truelove created an innocent young romance between the two characters with their breathy giggles and shy glances.

Carter Ibach as the narrator, Stage Manager, broke the fourth wall with ease and showcased his comedic skills through a deadpanned tone and sly, exasperated remarks to the audience. Julia Arsenault-Deraps portrayed Mrs. Webb with emotional integrity by conveying happiness and grief through vivid and heart-wrenching facial expressions. Brynn Downey comedically played Mrs. Soames, the town gossip, with large vocal inflections to portray the annoying nature of her character.

The lighting, hair, and makeup crew aided the actors in creating an immersive experience despite the minimalist plot and staging. The lighting, by Owen Connor and Michael Thomas, created the time of day with a white spot lit moon, emotions like mourning through blue light accents, and a distinction between the play and reality by illuminating the Stage Manager with an isolating spotlight. The early twentieth-century makeup aesthetics were accurate, simple, and light. Hairstyles were also unique to the characters, with older women adorned with durable curled chignons, girls flaunting bouncy braids, men with slicked-back hair, and boys sporting cow licked tufts.

The students of St. Mark High School's production of Our Town demonstrated their dynamic, emotional talent as performers and authentic, creativity as light, hair and makeup designers. An important message was conveyed through this heartfelt, artistic student production: life is short and simple but should be enjoyed and cherished perpetually.

Kaitlyn Chen
Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School
Submitted for publication to Ottawa Citizen #3

Our Town: our world. A small-town interpretation of the complicated philosophies of human life was rendered gorgeously by the cast and crew of St. Mark High School.

A 1938 play penned by Thornton Wilder, Our Town is a narrative resonant with the strife running rampant during the years before and after the World Wars even as it recounts the quintessential story of the "good old days". The three-act play is set in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, from 1901 to 1913. The metatheatrical script welcomes the audience to follow Emily Webb and George Gibb from adolescence to adulthood to afterlife, accompanied by the Stage Manager, who sees and knows all, including the fact that he is but a character.

Greer Truelove embodied the bright and charming Emily Webb through her mannerisms. Truelove's stunning chemistry with her fellow cast members was emphasized by her demure physicality and vivacious tone. Carlos Sanchez (George Gibb) was an electric presence on stage. Throughout the development of his character, Sanchez demonstrated his dramatic versatility as a comedic youth or a grieving widower.

The Stage Manager was a difficult role to fill, and Carter Ibach rose to the challenge with his prowess in delivering an immense number of lines with hardly a single falter. Appearing in one of the first scenes and consistently impressing until the curtains closed, Amanda Reinboldt's physical precision as she mimed through Mrs. Gibbs' daily life as a mother, wife, and friend was remarkable, as was her use of old-fashioned tones and mannerisms. Dillon Cooper brought a youthful energy to the performance whenever he appeared onstage as Joe or Si Crowell, the newsboys of Grover's Corners.

At first glance, the stage was decorated with absolute minimalism: two tables with four chairs each and a few ladders lined against the back wall. However, through precise and well-timed lighting (Owen Connor, Michael Thomas) as well as strategic placement of the actors, the St. Mark Players constructed the elements of a much more complicated set: diverse levels, two separate and simultaneous scenes, multiple entrances and exits. Hair and makeup (Catherine McKinley, Megan Lamesse, Ashley Mertl) were kept similarly functional; not only did the hairstyles last the entire show, they matched the historical era and differentiated between the generations of characters in Grover's Corners.

St. Mark High School's portrayal of Our Town broke the mundane into a million precious moments and blurred the line between performance and reality; as William Shakespeare once wrote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..."

Abdur Rehman Khan
Earl of March Secondary School
Submitted for publication to Ottawa Citizen #4

Imagine your life is as ordinary as anyone else's: you go to school, grow up, get married, and die. Although this appears typical, what if there was some unrecognized gravity in your every action, breath, and step? St. Mark High School's wistful production of Our Town adhered to this premise with an abundance of sorrow and sentiment while serving as a gripping reminder of how even the insignificant aspects of life have a purpose to them.

The Stage Manager takes the audience into a 1938 production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, written by playwright Thornton Wilder. The setting is the fictional town of Grover's Corners, where this metatheatrical play follows the seemingly normal lives of two families, the Webbs and the Gibbses, focusing primarily on George Gibbs and Emily Webb throughout different points in their lives. As their stories interweave through adolescence, love, and grief, the characters and the viewers are prompted to question the meaning of their existence in their limited lives.

With an intentional absence of props and extravagant set pieces, the cast did well to illustrate the setting using mostly their hand gestures to suggest certain objects, such as Bessie the horse being shown through the stroking of a snout. Their stage business was also consistent throughout the show.

Carlos Sanchez's portrayal of George convincingly depicted the development from awkward teenager to mature adult. His expressions varied throughout his performance, allowing for humour and pain to surface in his character. Acting alongside Sanchez was Greer Truelove as Emily Webb; she brought a level-headed personality to the character. As a younger Emily, Truelove gave an honest depiction of a harried teenage girl, exhibiting her distress or her pleasure through her expressive behaviour, which evolved into distressed womanliness as the play progressed. Her remarkable acting was notable when playing both her twelve-year-old self and her present self, differentiating between the two only through her expressive demeanour. Together, their shared stage time added a feeling of relatability that helped the audience identify with their personalities.

The patriarchs and matriarchs of the Gibbs and Webb families contributed to the natural sense of family within the production. Davide Donato's performance as Mr. Webb encompassed the busy yet caring fatherly attitude, interacting adeptly with Julia Arsenault-Deraps as the compassionate Mrs. Webb. Reid ten-Den and Amanda Reinbolt played Doc Gibbs and Mrs. Gibbs respectively, and their presence helped ground the play while also contributing to its reserved nature. Carter Ibach's frequent interjections throughout the play as the Stage Manager served his purpose as an insightful narrator. Ibach took advantage of this role by entertaining with his loud voice and acting with poise.

The consistent lighting in the play was reminiscent of a theatre environment, which kept true to the production's "play-in-a-play" setting. The varied illumination of blue lighting alongside the regular lighting of the stage was successful in illustrating the nighttime setting of certain scenes. As well, the spotlight was tellingly utilised to highlight the nighttime scenes while also occasionally being used during the Stage Manager's intimate conversations with the audience.

St. Mark High School admirably created a balance of emotion and reflection in its sincere production of Our Town. With a collection of engaging performances in a reserved setting, the play proved that there is significance in even the most mundane parts of life.

Brienne Rivard
St. Francis Xavier High School
Submitted for publication to Ottawa Citizen #5

Life, love, and death are the basics of life, even in the small town of Grover's Corners. St. Mark High School reinforced the understandable themes in its driven production of Our Town.

The metatheatrical work of Thornton Wilder, Our Town, takes on a fourth-wall-breaking view of the mundane and simple lives of George Gibbs and Emily Webb in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire in the early 20th century. First performed in 1938 and winner of multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the simple and performance-driven piece explores growth and delves deep into the importance of appreciating life in its entirety.

In a production requiring the merest amount of props and sets, the cast of St. Mark High School was successful in exhibiting the dated lifestyles of the townspeople during the second industrial revolution. Physicality was used to emphasise expression, and though vocal projection was challenging in some cases, the cast made up for it in their diverse facial expressions used in times of sadness, distress or happiness. The generally consistent miming of dishes and meals also helped actors in the background maintain their characters and stay relevant to the scenes.

As George Gibbs, Carlos Sanchez exemplified a variety of emotions. With nervous, fidgety physicality when talking to his crush, cheerful smiles and lively energy during the wedding, and sobs of sorrow after the death of his wife, Sanchez succeeded in portraying George's growth with accuracy and clear projection. In the role of Emily Webb, Greer Truelove convincingly showcased her character's troubles with frantic physicality when nervous about getting married and her notable ability to switch from a brightly smiling twelve-year-old to a girl ridden with grief and sadness when reliving a past memory after her death.

Carter Ibach as the Stage Manager delivered the narrations of the play with a clear voice and engagingly delivered monologues, moving around the stage and gesturing to elements of the town around him. Brynn Downey, portraying the lively Mrs. Soames, delivered her comedic lines expressively and coherently. Her use of body language distinguished her more animated demeanour when talking to both Mrs. Gibbs (Amanda Reinboldt) and Mrs. Webb (Julia Arsenault-Deraps), whose own motherly mannerisms displayed their wiser superiority. Downey's lighter intonations additionally contributed to easing the tension on particularly heavy scenes.

With a minimal set, lighting played a part in emphasising certain aspects of the performance and setting the scene. The use of colder blue-toned gels in the lights allowed an evident divide between different settings, whether it was a moonlit window or a sombre graveyard, and allowed an effective transition when the deceased Emily crossed into her living memories. The dated hairstyles of both Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs, and the gelled middle-parts of the younger boys, were accurate to the time, with the former fitting well with their roles as housewives.

St. Mark High School presented the happiest points and most grievous moments in the simplest of lives in their production of Our Town. Though it may not seem relevant at the time, failing to appreciate the smallest of moments in life can be one's biggest regret.

Anya Kylas
Merivale High School
Submitted for publication to Ottawa Citizen #6

Our Town is an experience to be had, not a story to be retold. St. Mark High School's production of this iconic play demonstrated that value lies in the most simple of things.

The plot follows the lives of two lovers over the span of three acts, respectively titled Daily Life, Love and Marriage, and Death and Eternity. Set in an insignificant town in New Hampshire, this story is both classic and all-American, and oftentimes deep and pensive. Thornton Wilder, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, changed the world of theatre with the publication of this metatheatrical play. He works with diverse ideas such as how nostalgia can sweeten and cement memories, and how shared experiences and humanity link all individuals together. The defining element of St Mark's production was that the cast created a sense of intimacy and humanity as individuals, as families, and as a town.

Carlos Sanchez and Greer Truelove had great chemistry in the roles of the high school sweethearts, George Gibbs and Emily Webb. They were bashful and fidgety around each other. Truelove kept the same intelligent and gentle personality through the years, but still showed growth as a person, which was especially admirable. Her burst of crying after speaking her mind to Sanchez encapsulated the female psyche. In the third act, she physically, vocally, and psychologically shifted from an optimistic girl to a saddened and frantic shell of a person. Similar to Truelove, Sanchez's performance was sincere and impactful. He was charming and charismatic without visibly intending to be so, and inspiringly optimistic. Through his boyish posture and through the fiddling of his fingers, he created a story in which his intentions were sincere and simple.

Julia Arsenault-Deraps portrayed the role of Mrs. Webb with poise. She kept a humble composure, being the ideal nurturing and loving mother with a touch of sternness every once in a while. Arsenault-Deraps was confident in her role and above all, she gave a believable performance, as seen in her controlled facial expressions and clear voice. When she was talking with her daughter about beauty and worth, the audience was exposed to a glimpse of her character's innermost feelings and nostalgia for her glory days. This moment of pure emotion was memorable because of how subtly she transitioned from a hardened mother to a young girl, how she sighed softly, how her eyes glinted with sentimentality.

Our Town is not a play that puts emphasis on material goods or anything sensational. The lighting, designed by Owen Connor and Michael Thomas, was no exception to this: it was minimalist, but held lots of meaning. During a scene where Emily and George do homework together by the moonlight of their own windows, multiple lighting elements came together to enhance the ambience. A spotlight was used to create a full moon, hanging in the distance, and blue stage lights gave the actors a dreamlike quality. Lanterns sitting on their makeshift window sills were reminiscent of 19th century gas lights; however, their geometric exterior brought forth a modern touch, reminding one of how timeless this production is meant to be.

Time is cyclical, all experiences are shared, and there is nothing that truly differentiates modern times from those hundreds or thousands of years ago. The St. Mark Players' rendition of Our Town asked the question of how something can be both convoluted and straightforward, and it ultimately concluded that only life can be this way.