For their second production of the year, Sam Barlow Theater performed the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. It’s set in a fictional town called Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire, during the early 20th century. It’s a small, monotonous town with a total population of 2,642 and has never produced anyone remarkable.
The play follows the lives of two families who live in Grover’s Corner, the Gibbs and the Webbs. It focuses on two of the children from these families, George Gibbs and Emily Webbs. Unlike most plays, Our Town was split into three acts. George and Emily’s day-to-day life, their blooming love, and eventually the death of Emily. This play is touching and emotional, with a strong focus on the people and how they interact. Lee Sare, who played George, explains that the play shows “…that we as people take for granted the time we have with our loved ones and don’t spend our time with them truly engaged with each other.”
To bring the focus to the characters, Barlow Theater used almost no props. Instead, the actors mimed all of their actions, with the only props being tables, chairs, and ladders. Even without props, the actors were able to perform their characters through dialogue and actions extremely well. Because less time was needed to work on props, the preparation time needed was significantly shorter than their other production earlier this year, Hadestown. The actors were given only one month to memorize their lines and blocking. To be able to memorize all their lines, many actors had different methods of doing so. Grant Cynor-Ford said, “[I] just went over my lines a lot. I made sure I at least knew them before I really started the show.” Sare, on the other hand, “…made sure I watched available productions online and identifying the traits of the character and applying them to myself, and then making the character my own.”
This was the first performance at Barlow for Truth Salamone, a freshman this year. He played the role of the narrator for the story. He’s been acting for only a year, but was able to embody his character exceptionally well. He has performed at the Eastside Theater Company and helped with the production of The Day the Internet Died as an assisting cast member. His favorite part of the whole experience was watching those around him, himself included, learn and grow and really bring this wonderful performance to life.
Cynor-Ford is a junior, and this will be his second production at Barlow in which he has acted. He was a part of the performance of 12 Angry Men and a part of the tech crew for The Wizard of Oz, which were both performed last school year. For Our Town, he played the role of Dr. Gibbs, the father of George Gibbs. He enjoyed his experience performing this play, saying, “I love acting, but this show really showed me why I love it, and why I wanna keep doing it.” He’s done performances in community theater as well. He started his acting career when he was around eight years old, and he did around six shows at Barmstormers, a theater in Grants Pass, and got paid for it. He says he’ll have a lot of great takeaways from the show — the way he felt on opening night, the bond he formed with his fellow actors, and perhaps most importantly, a moustache.
Sare, a sophomore, played George Gibbs. He’s been performing since his freshman year but has had no previous experience outside of high school. He’s a very talented actor who won the Mt. Hood Conference One-Act “Outstanding Actor,” was a Duo Dramatic Acting Regional Finalist, and participated in the State-Qualified Large Group Musical piece this last season. He was a part of the last performance, Hadestown, but this was his first role on stage, and as a lead no less. He was able to fully feel the meaning of the story and submerge himself in the experience, and had a wonderful time, “doing my favorite thing around my favorite people.”
Next year’s production hasn’t been announced, but keep an eye out for when tickets go on sale!
