Our Town

Thornton Wilder's play Our Town takes on American idealism, community/familial identity, and life stages as it's main themes. Because the play is old yet so "recent" in terms of its historical significance and cultural commentary, I believe it is hard for audiences to swallow in the modern era. The character types which Wilder explores are so familiar to us now and so widely parodied and lampooned that it is impossible for us to experience the unadulterated meanings Wilder intended. I believe this is also partially due to the change in language and speech between the time periods. Wilder's dialogue is cheesy and direct to some but beautiful and vivid to others. I believe the detractors are viewing this play through a modern lens, in which they expect everything to be subtle and more visually oriented. I would be very interested in seeing a production of this play which was completely and utterly true to the spirit of the time.