My friend Kathy was in yet another play this summer, "Our Town", which was in the Alliance Studio Theater of Atlanta's Woodruff Arts Center. She played the part of Rebecca Gibbs, the little sister of the lead actor. Due to some unfortunate restrictions, I didn't get to take any snapshots, but I did get the opportunity to video tape the dress rehearsal. The pictures below are from that video, which explains the not-so-great picture quality, but hey, I'll take what I can get! Since it was just the dress rehearsal, there was no audience when I was video taping it, so the tape itself isn't all that great because there was no audience reaction recorded. Oh well. I'm sure there will be plenty more plays in the future.
"Our Town" takes place at the turn of the century (no, not Y2K, the previous century) in a little town, Grover's Corner, New Hampshire. The play is semi-narrated, but mostly acted out. The narration is mainly the introduction and explanations of large jumps in time. It is about two families, the Gibbs' and the Webb's, between which there is a childhood friendship that grows into marriage. It then takes a quick turn and moves to death. The wife dies in childbirth. While dead, she goes back and visits one of her childhood birthdays, seeing life from a totally new perspective. She then returns to the dead, and that's pretty much the end of the play. Oh alright, my description isn't too exciting, but it was a good, play that tugged on your (my) emotions. You'd have enjoyed it too.
The older couple at the back are the narrators. This is the beginning where the characters are being introduced.
"Good morning..."
Kathy's first appearance. This is her (Rebecca) coming down the stairs to breakfast with her older brother, George... Sitting around the breakfast table...
The stage was divided in half. The Gibbs' were on the left, and the Webb's on the right. While the Gibbs' were eating breakfast in their home, so were the ????...
A slightly closer shot of Kathy (Rebecca). "Do you know what I like most in life? . . . ""MONEY! . . ."
Rebecca's brother, George, talking to his friend, next-door neighbor, and future wife Emily...
A choir singing, being led by a drunk. Kathy isn't in this scene, but she is behind the curtain singing...
No, they are not really on ladders. They are in their upstairs bedrooms, chatting out their windows to each other about their homework...
Kathy (Rebecca) came up to visit w/ her brother -- looking out the window at the moon...
A bit older now, George and Emily sitting at the counter at the drugstore, drinking some sodas, and having their first conversation where they discover they are interested in each other beyond friendship...
Wedding day! George speaking to his father-in-law to be, who is giving him some comical advice on marriage...
Before the wedding -- people gathering...
Ditto, just a better close up of Kathy...I mean, Rebecca...
The father kissing the bride...
The ceremony...
The bride and groom kissing...
Now a BIG jump in time. Emily has died in childbirth. This is her funeral at the cemetery. The people on the left, sitting, are dead people talking about the living...
A close up of "the deads". Kathy is the one in the far back. She isn't supposed to be Rebecca here, just some other, older dead woman...
The end of the play. Kathy coming out to take her bows...
Kathy taking her first bow with a couple other actors. Down...
...and back up... A close-up while in lined up w/ everyone just before the big group bow...
And finally, the group bow...
(Applause! Applause!)
