The Stage Manager is a man of many roles. Usually a stage manager is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilders Our Town, the Stage Manager goes well beyond his usual function in a play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the Stage Manager is a narrator, moderator, philosopher, and an actor. Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the theme of universality in the play. The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and subtle hints about the future.

Ive married over two-hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I dont know? M. marries N. millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading of the will-once in a thousand times its interesting”(699). Here the Stage Manager is giving insight about George and Emilys future. He is hinting about their life and fate to come. “Goin to be a great engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France. All that education for nothing” (673).

The incidents discussed about are great events in George, Emily, and Joes lives. The Stage Manage emphasizes that the short things in these peoples lives are overlooked. There isnt realization that it is the small parts of their lives that make a difference. His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage Managers narration shows casualness. The casualness connects the Stage Manager to the audience. “Presently the STAGE MANAGER, hat on and pipe in mouthhe has finished setting the stage and leaning against the right proscenium pillar watches the late arrivals in the audience. 671) The informality is evident since he smokes a pipe, wears a hat, and leans formally against the proscenium pillar. He also greets and dismisses the audience at the beginning and end of each act. The stage manager interrupts daily conversation on the street. The Stage Manager enters and leaves the dialog at will. He is also giving the foresight of death in the play. His informality in dress, manners, and speech, connects the theme, universality, of the production to the audience. His actions make the audience feel that he is a part of the audience.

It is as though he is “one of the guys” or one with the audience. Philosophy was also another of the Stage Managers avocations. His philosophies are about daily life, love and marriage and death. “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? -every, every minute? (708) Every, every detail in ones life has an impact. It effects life from that moment forward. Each detail impacts the whole universe. “Only this one is straining away, straining away all the time to make something of itself. The strains so bad that every sixteen hours everybody lies down and gets a rest”(709).

This philosophy on daily life is that every single detail matters and the living overlook the small things. People strain over the big things in life and do not take the time to enjoy the ordinary “small” events in life. “Almost everybody in the world gets married-you know what I mean? In our town there arent hardly any exceptions. Most everybody in the world climbs into their graves marriedPeople were made to live two by two” (696). His philosophy on love and marriage is traditional. He represents the feelings of a large population that do not want to live the single life.

This philosophy on love and marriage is universal, pertaining to many people. The Stage Manager takes this universal theory and relates it to one couple, in one place, in one period of time. “Now there is some things we all know, but we dont takem out and look atm very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it aint houses and it aint names, and it aint earth, and it aint even the starseverybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beingsYou know as well as I do that the dead dont stay interested in us living people for very long.

Gradually, gradually, they lose hold of the earthand the ambitions they hadand the pleasures they hadand the things they sufferedand the people they loved” (701). The Stage Managers philosophy on death is unique. It is more of a philosophy on life than of death because the dead feel sorry for the living who cannot fully appreciate life. The living cannot see that every detail matters. Every detail has a universal effect. Our Town is based upon the Stage Managers philosophies. The Stage Manager is part of the community itself. He is an actor. He plays several minor roles throughout the play.

The significance of the Stage Manager taking on these roles is that anyone, any insignificant person who one meets on the street is important. In Act I, he plays a woman in the street whom George has accidentally bumped into while chasing a baseball. As Mrs. Forest, The Stage Manager says, “Go out and play in the fields, young man. You got no business playing baseball on Main Street”(679). Although it is the Stage Manager playing Mrs. Forest the character still has an impact over Georges actions. In Act II, he plays Mr. Morgan, the druggist and soda jerk. Mr. Morgan serves George and Emily while George proposes to Emily. Such a small role has a large impact. The Stage Manager plays this part demonstrating that an insignificant person is involved in a large event. The Stage Manager also assumes the part of the minister who performs the marriage ceremony. In Act III he is Emilys contact between the living and the dead. He presents the theme. The most minor person or episode makes an impression. The Stage Manager shows that the scope of Our Town is wider than just the daily events of several ordinary people in a small New Hampshire town in the early 1900s.

The name of the town is Grovers Corners, New Hampshire-just across the Massachusetts line: latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes; longitude 70 degrees 37 minutes”(671). The play begins in a particular place on a particular day at a precise moment. “There are the stars-doing their old, old crisscross journeys in the sky”(709) The play ends in space. Not a particular place. Not a particular moment. “we want to know how all this began-this wedding, this plan to spend a lifetime together. Im awfully interested in how big things like that begin”(961).

Ive married over two-hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I dont know? M. marries N. millions of them”(699). The Stage Manager makes a general statement about an aspect of human nature and here can relate it to George and Emily. He presides at George and Emilys wedding with the initial comment about the whole question of marriage. He discusses other aspects of weddings and refers to wedding customs in Rome. His remarks transcend to a particular place, Grovers Corners, of the particular couple, George and Emily.

The Stage Manager puts Grovers Corners in perspective with the rest of the world and ultimately the universe itself. The Stage Manager communicates the theme of universality through his narration, moderation, philosophies, and acting. The implication here is that there are many Grovers Corners and countless characters like those in the play, who have, are, and will continue the cycles of daily life, love marriage, procreation, and eventually death. The name of the play itself is indicative of its universality; it is indeed our town and the human predicament which is its purpose.

“Our Town”, by Thornton Wilder, written in 1938, was first performed at the McCarter theatre, New Jersey, on the 22nd of January1938. It is an example of meta theatre, and chronicles the lives of ordinary, everyday people, during their ordinary, everyday lives. The story is based in Grover’s Corners, a small town in New Hampshire, set at the turn of the century. The play involves three main acts, each focussed upon a different aspect of life.

Set in 1901, the first act simply discusses the passing of an uneventful day in the town. We are exposed to all the characters, particularly two teenage characters, Emily Webb, and George Gibbs. The second act focuses upon love and marriage’, and takes place in 1904, the day of Emily and George’s wedding. We are exposed to all the tremulous events of marriage, yet the scene ends happily. The final act, set in 1913 involves the funeral of Emily Webb. After her death Emily chooses to return to her past, selecting her 12th birthday.

Emily is soon returns to the cemetery, finding the whole experience saddening, as she realises the waste her life has been, taking everything for granted, not cherishing the smallest of treasures. Emily accepts death. Throughout this seemingly simple plot Wilder illustrates the relationship of the individual to the vastness of the universe, in fact, it is the simplicity of the plot that allows this topic to be addressed. I have been offered the position of a director of this play, and will further discuss my methods, adhering carefully to those suggested by Wilder.

Thornton Wilder once referred to “Our Town” as “an effort to find the dignity in the trivial of our daily life, against those preposterous stretches which seem to rob it of any such dignity” This is an important aspect of the play, especially in today’s society. Our whole idea of life is entertainment which is short, exciting, and requires no thinking. People prefer a roller coaster ride to smelling the roses. With the main theme of “Our Town” being focussing upon the small, everyday aspects of life, and celebrating them, it is difficult to guarantee the audience is not bored.

I believe the key to ensuring the audience accepts, and comprehends the ideals of the play, by advertising the play as a mental workout. If the play is promoted as deep, touching upon our place in the universe, the audience will prepared to participate, and see the deeper meanings under the apparently almost stereotypical story. The staging of the play would once again be taken from Wilder’s original concept. The set would be bare of extravagant props and detail, only small, essential props being used. This would highlight the need of the audience to perceive the value in small things.

The staging actually provides a channel for understanding for the audience. A bare stage, but for tables, chairs, of each of the families would allow the audience to develop their own mental set. The stage being merely a blank set with a few tables respects Wilder’s third fundamental condition for theatre, that theatre is “a world of pretense”. As the play is based on a “world of pretense”, there is no need for concentration upon sets and costumes, the characters and narrative create the simple reality instead.

The play is continuously interrupted by the Stage Manager, providing background information, and commentary, this reminds us that we are watching a play. Since the audience is constantly reminded of the play, any attempts to imitate a real life situation, by set are futile. As Wilder requested there would be no backstage curtain, a literal bare stage. The most important aspect of “Our Town” is the way the characters are portrayed, and perceived. To be effective, the characters need to display emotions, and demonstrate their characters in an almost generic manner, each displaying their “type” of person.

Wilder’s second fundamental condition is that “performances should be addressed to the group mind”, insinuating that audiences play an integral part in a production, acting as both spectators, and audience. The Stage manger reminds them that they are, in fact, watching a play, and by this helps them to participate completely. The Stage Manager is basically the backbone of “Our Town”. The Stage Manager tells the story, sets the mood, and organises the entire play. His voice must be relatively monotone, but not to the extent of boredom, simply without personal expression.

His movements should mirror his voice, slow, and unmelodramatic. The other characters should be more expressive than the stage manger, yet not to the extent of personal emotions. the actors must present emotions to the extent of comprehension for the audience, but not to the extent of comparison. The audience must be able to relate to the emotions, not compare themselves with the actors feelings. The actor must show generic emotions, as their character “types” would do. This would allow the audience to see the universal person rather than a particular person in a particular town.

The main characters must show their individual “types”, making their stereotype obvious, enabling the audience to see the individual picture. The minor characters must play down their roles, to allow the audience to see the universal picture. by doing this they will help to covey the idea that in ordinary events, value can be found. Black shirts and pants would accent the simplicity of the set, and plot, once again allowing audiences to relate to the characters, and see the deeper meaning of the play.