BWW Reviews: OUR TOWN at Stray Dog

Thornton Wilder's venerable American classic Our Town is an interesting character study, focusing its attention on a small New England town and the changes that occur to various characters as time passes. This was an era when entire families put down roots and never gave a thought to moving, with children growing up and taking over the family businesses. Stray Dog Theatre is currently presenting the play, and though it's a flawed presentation, a game cast does a fairly good job of bringing Wilder's characters to life.

Set in the fictional New England community of Grover's Corners, the play follows several characters, but puts the spotlight on neighbors George and Emily as they age from teenagers to young adults. Their relationship is at the center of the action, but there are others, like the perpetually drunk and troubled choir director Simon Stinson, that also make an impact as well.

David Gibbs does a pretty good job of narrating the action as the Stage Manager, although there were a few too many lines fluffed in my estimation. Fairing better are Kevin Boehm as George Gibbs and Colleen Backer as Emily Webb. Both manage to pull off the tricky task of showing us their personal growth as they age and mature over the course of the plays three acts. Backer, as always, gets the bulk of laughs with her inate sense of comic timing. Michelle Hand is also quite good as Mrs. Gibbs, and probably delivers the most assured performance among the cast. Michael Monsey is fine as Simon Stinson, world weary and battling his own demons.

Solid support is provided by: Mark Abels as Mr. Gibbs, John Reidy as Mr. Webb, Leslie Wobbe as Mrs. Webb, Payton Sciarratta as Rebecca Gibbs, and Leo Burgess as Wally Webb.

There are a number of missteps that are most disconcerting, especially given director Gary Bell's usually reliable work. The accents are a constant distraction, with no one really offering up a credible New England dialect. And, I've always been of a mind that it's better for everyone to eschew accents than it is to have them all over the map. The music utilized to set the mood and occasionally underscore the narration is also a bit much, and really doesn't work for me. However, this production does feature some strong performances, and Wilder's vision is still intact and compelling.

One a more technical note, Tyler Duenow's lighting scheme is well done and up to his usual fine standards, and the costumes by Alexandra Scibetta Quigley fit the period in nice fashion.

Stray Dog Theatre's production of Our Town continues through June 26, 2010 at the Tower Grove Abbey.