Broadway Revival of ‘Our Town’ Reimagined Through Contemporary Lens

The latest Broadway production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, directed by Kenny Leon, is offering a fresh take on the classic American play, exploring themes of community, life, and death through a contemporary lens. Promoted as an Our Town for “our time,” the revival presents Wilder’s 1938 masterpiece with a diverse cast and modern elements, though not without some unexpected sensory experiences for the audience.

One of the production’s unique features is its use of smells to enhance the audience’s immersion. In the final act, the scent of frying bacon fills the theater, which might surprise vegans and vegetarians in the crowd. Additionally, the heliotrope flower mentioned in the first act can be subtly detected at one point, adding an aromatic layer to the performance.

Leon’s casting choices include a Black family portraying the Gibbses, the central family in the story, while their neighbors, the Webbs, are white. The role of the milkman, Howie, is played by a hearing-impaired actor. While diverse casting has become common in modern productions, it introduces some challenges in Our Town, which is set in a small New Hampshire town in the early 1900s, where an interracial marriage or widespread knowledge of sign language might not have been accepted or commonplace during that period.

The play, often celebrated for its delicate balance between the universal and the specific, moves between grand philosophical reflections and the intimate details of daily life in Grover’s Corners. Leon’s interpretation brings humor and melancholy to the stage, but some critics note that these elements do not always blend into a fully cohesive production.

Jim Parsons, who plays the Stage Manager and acts as the audience’s guide through the life of Grover’s Corners, delivers a performance that is both fluid and easygoing. His portrayal has moments of wry humor, balancing his natural wholesomeness with a touch of sardonic edge. Michelle Wilson shines as Mrs. Gibbs, offering one of the most emotionally resonant performances, especially in the cemetery scene in Act 3, where her character provides comfort to her daughter-in-law Emily, played by Zoey Deutch.

Other standout performances include veteran actor Richard Thomas, who brings a mix of folksiness and intelligence to the role of Mr. Webb, and Katie Holmes, who has a memorable moment lamenting the uncertainties faced by women entering marriage. Ephraim Sykes, as George Gibbs, brings energy to the role and effectively portrays the character’s grief in the play’s final act. While Deutch’s portrayal of Emily starts somewhat unevenly, she finds depth in the later scenes, particularly in the pivotal moment when her character is given a chance to relive a day from her life.

While Leon’s Our Town offers polished performances and moments of humor and sorrow, some theatergoers may find it lacks the emotional impact of past productions. Comparisons to David Cromer’s 2009 Off-Broadway version, which ran for nearly 650 performances, may lead to high expectations, and this revival, though well-executed, may not fully meet them.

This is the second Broadway production of Our Town in recent years to garner mixed reviews, following a 2002 revival starring Paul Newman as the Stage Manager. Despite these challenges, Leon’s contemporary vision offers a new way of engaging with Wilder’s timeless exploration of life’s fleeting beauty, though it may be better suited to a more intimate theatrical setting rather than the grandeur of a Broadway stage.

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com