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In
what ways is your hometown like Grover's Corners? In what ways is your town different?
If you were to
make a movie based on Our Town, would you include elaborate sets or retain
the spare sets, with few props? Explain your answer.
At
the end of the play, Emily says, “Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody
to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?”
Which are among the "wonderful" things about earth and life that you
sometimes (often?) fail to notice?
In
Our Town, the Stage Manager says, “Wherever you come near the human
race there's layers and layers of nonsense.” Explain this passage with references
to the play.
Even
though Our Town is a period piece--a reflection of another age, what is
it about Thornton Wilder's play that endures? Why is it so very timely today?
(Adapted from Donald H. Wolfe, New York Times)
The
Stage Manager says young Joe Crowell graduated at the top of his class at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yet Crowell never got a chance to put his
education to use, for he died in combat during World War I. In commenting on Crowell's
death, the Stage Manager says, "All that education for nothin’."
Was his education, in fact, for nothing? Is the Stage Manager's comment intended
to be an antiwar statement? Using details provided in the play, explain your answer.
The Stage Manager
thinks it would be a good idea to place a time capsule in the new bank under construction.
In the capsule, he would place a copy of Mr. Webb's Sentinel, the New
York Times, the U.S. Constitution, the Bible, Shakespeare’s works, and
the text of the play he is participating in, Our Town. What is the significance
of these items in terms of what they tell us about Grover's Corners?
What
does Mrs. Soames mean when she says (in Act III), "My, wasn’t life awful–and
wonderful"?
The themes of this play are birth, love, death, and time. How are each of these
themes presented in each act? Explain with examples. What does Wilder want you
to think about each of these themes?
What
is the moral of Our Town? Explain with references to the play.
The
Stage Manager speaks directly to the audience. How effective is this approach?
Explain.
The Stage
Manager is a character in the play, yet he transcends time and place in the play
and takes the audience with him. What is he able to accomplish because of this?
Explain his role and discuss the effect on the play.
This
story gets remade, in different versions, every few years. For example, It's
a Wonderful Life is another version of this story. What other versions of
this story do you know? How are they similar to Our Town? How are they
different? What is the moral of those other versions?
Our
Town is nostalgic, yet tinged with gray. It paints the stereotypical small
town with touches of darkness. How? Why? Explain with references to the play.
What song is played throughout the play? (Choir sings it, wedding plays it, mourners
sing it) How is that song symbolic of life in Our Town?