A Word.

Some of the best plays I ever seen were plays that I didn’t know what to make of them when they ended. Our Town was one of those plays, now I should say- my exposure to Our Town came courtesy of Netflix. Unlike many of you who may have seen a production of this play done at a High School or College- I saw this play sitting at home on the best seat in the house with Paul Newman and Jayne Atkinson leading the cast. I tell you this because Our Town is not an easy play to swallow even when it’s done professionally. Subtlety seems to catch us off guard when we come to expect a beginning, middle, and end- this play has three acts which never quite peak but rather coast on simplicity. Thornton Wilder wanted this- he wanted a play, which would take us back to the basics of theatre going. In a time when people lost interest in actually feeling something and came to the theatre to be entertained.

A country facing change is a major theme running through Our Town. Then, much like now this is true of our own- maybe this can explain the sudden hike in productions of Our Town across America. A successful revival has been extended Off Broadway- and now we are less than two weeks away from opening our own production. I believe this is a good thing; we are taking an interest in simplicity- in a world that is no longer simple.

True Colors has subtlety as a recurring theme in its plays this season: Sty of the Blind Pig, Our Town, and Jitney are examples of a similar type of play. Wordy and storytelling- underappreciated and rarely produced. These plays were chosen because they feel right- we hope you feel the same way.