Playful People Productions opens the new year with one of the classic American stage plays of all time, Our Town. Written by Thornton Wilder 85 years ago, Our Town is directed by Stacy Levin and performs at Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose February 23 through 26. For tickets ($25, live or live stream, available beginning January 20) or for more information on Playful People and their programs, visit https://www.playfulpeople.org or call (408) 878-5362.
Because Playful People Productions focuses on creating theater experiences the whole family can share, it's not unusual for a production to have siblings performing together, or a parent and child, or even couples without children. Between the two casts, totaling about 40 people, Our Town has ten families performing together! Some of these families have members who have never performed live on stage before, or who haven't done so in years. Performers of all sizes, shapes, genders, experience levels, and ways of moving through the world are enjoying the thoroughly supportive environment that identifies a person's strengths and capitalizes on them.
Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written," Our Town presents the small town of Grover's Corners in three acts: "Daily Life," "Love and Marriage," and "Death and Eternity." Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, the play depicts the simple daily lives of the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually - in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre - die. This production of Our Town will be performed by teens ages 15 to 19 as well as adults, in two mixed casts. One choir performs for all productions, performing songs from 1900-1905, and one Foley artist creates live sound effects for all shows.
Our Town played on Broadway in 1938 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is Thornton Wilder's most produced play. Despite having premiered 85 years ago, it does not feel dated in its content or its characters. The small town of Grover's Corners could be any town in modern America, the hopes and fears and dreams of its inhabitants the same today as in our grandparents' day. And although it is often thought of as a play about Americana, its reach and relatability is far wider. The use of characters on a sparse stage echoes theater traditions in multiple cultures around the world, particularly China, where Wilder himself visited. Donald Margulies, in the foreword to the 2002 edition of the play, wrote: "Indeed the play's success across cultural borders around the world attests to its being something much greater than an American play: it is a play that captures the universal experience of being alive."
Playful People Productions was first founded in 2010 as a positive, inclusive, family-focused theatre company, and has operated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit since 2017. While initially providing classes, camps, and shows for kids, the company has grown to offer similar classes for adults, and stages multi-generational performances where family members can perform together.
Playful People Productions aims to create an inclusive environment where all feel welcome, and where creative impulses are encouraged by experienced Bay Area artists. The organization follows proven child education techniques; continually works to ensure the safety of all participants, volunteers, and staff; and regularly gives families the opportunity to share the exhilarating experience of performing together.
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