The View from a Drawbridge

Before our recent visit to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, I was web surfing to find fun and unique things to do while there. I try to do that before every vacation, because nothing annoys me more than discovering after the fact that there was something really cool that I could have done during a trip, if only I had done my homework. It’s a function of me learning from past mistakes.

Once, I came within 50 yards of seeing actual dinosaur tracks, but I didn’t know it at the time. Now, I get to suffer from dinosaur track withdrawal for the rest of my life. Believe me, it isn’t pretty.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! I was web surfing, and I happened upon a community theater that would be performing the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Tickets, please!

Our Town is one of my favorite plays of all time. It’s arguably one of the best American plays ever. According to Wikipedia, it’s about embracing and appreciating the value of life itself. I agree, but I would also expand upon that. I’d say it’s about the kind of innocence that most people no longer possess. It takes place in the fictional town of Grovers Corners, New Hampshire in 1901.

Many of the residents are the kind of people you have to travel to rural Canada or perhaps a small-town farming community in one of the flyover states to encounter these days. Even there, you’d have to search diligently. Imagine an utter lack of cynicism. These characters are decent, hard-working, and earnest. Most of the older ones are content or at least accepting of their lot in life. The younger ones have big dreams and are so focused on the future that they don’t appreciate the present.

Another thing that I love about this play is that it has very little scenery, and the actors mime their actions using non-existent props. It feels like a reminder that life isn’t about stuff. It’s about people, and the way they make you feel. Having people act out their lives with little to nothing is another way of saying that life is what you make of it.

I also enjoy the way the audience is part of the play. The narrator speaks directly to us. We bear witness to the goings on in this little town.

I can’t think of a better place to see Our Town than the Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. It’s situated in a strip mall, and the space was clearly a store at one time. The lobby is full of kitschy, small-town antiques. The theater is just a square space with no elevation, and rows of folding chairs.

But it didn’t matter at all. The play was magical. I was transported.

Sadly, even if you live in the area, Our Town’s run at this playhouse ended in May. But if you want a tiny taste of what it was like, check out this video on YouTube. It gives me goosebumps. If it’s any indication of the quality of their performances overall, you should definitely make the effort to attend.

During intermission, I was standing in the ubiquitous line for the ladies’ room, and I overheard a delightful conversation between two women in their 70’s.

“Did you know what the play was about before you came?”

“No, so I read it first. And I’m amazed. They are using the exact same words as the written play.”

I wanted to hug them, because it felt as if they had brought Our Town into the lobby for me. Who’da thought that a play would actually be faithful to its own script? How thrilling is that?

I suspect that it was the first production that either of them had ever seen. I bet it felt just like home to them. You can’t get that kind of warm fuzzy feeling by watching Netflix.

I’ve had a lot of pleasant experiences in community theaters. It always surprises me that so few people visit them. It’s like they’re hidden treasures known to only a select few. Because of this, many of these playhouses struggle to survive.

I know a lot of people who have never been to a play. I’m always sad to hear this, because there’s nothing quite like it. Big, flashy Broadway plays are fun and spectacular, but increasingly expensive. But you don’t have to be rich to see a local performance, with cast members that you might know personally or run into at the grocery store or the farmer’s market the next day. They are worth their weight in gold, and yet they are much more affordable.

I admire people who have the courage, inclination, talent and time to be in a play. It’s such a cultural gift to us all. A friend of ours was in a production of Godspell recently, and that was so much fun to see! I was starstruck.

So stop what you’re doing, right now, and find out what plays are being presented at the theater, barn, church, high school, or park nearest you. Even if you can’t attend, support them if you can. They need your help if the show is to go on. The world would be very dull and monochrome without community theaters.

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