REVIEW: OUR TOWN

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Posted: May 9, 2009 - 2:55 pm

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"Our Town" ad for APU's production, 1964: Photo: APBy MAIA NOLAN

When the Good Friday earthquake struck Anchorage just over 45 years ago, it disrupted the five-day run of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at Alaska Methodist University (now Alaska Pacific University). Much has changed in Anchorage since that production of “Our Town” went up, but Cyrano’s Theatre Company’s production, which opened Friday, reveals that little has changed in the small New Hampshire town of Grover’s Corners, home to young sweethearts George Gibbs and Emily Webb.

The Webb Family: Kate Williams (Emily) David Edgecombe(Mr. Webb) Ursula Gould (Mrs. Webb) Sam Erickson (Wally Webb). Photo: Jamie Lang.

“Our Town” is theatrical comfort food. It’s the kind of play you go into knowing what you’re going to get. Director Elizabeth Ware appears to recognize that fact, and while she puts her own stamp on the production, she also preserves the spirit of Wilder’s American classic. As is traditional for “Our Town,” Ware uses almost no props, requiring her actors instead to pantomime eating, drinking, writing, feeding chickens and delivering newspapers, among a variety of other activities.

The Gibbs Family: Dean Williams (Dr. Gibbs) Julie-Joy Voss(Mrs. Gibbs) Lindsey Leonard(Rebecca Gibbs)Jaron Carlson(George Gibbs. Photo: Jamie Lang.
To be perfectly honest, the pantomime is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it seems at times as though the performance is unfinished — as if I were watching a rehearsal. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, given Wilder’s near-total disregard for the fourth wall and Brian Saylor’s pared-down set. Some actors are definitely better at pulling it off than others, and the occasional bad mime can be distracting.

The moments at which the pantomime decidedly lands its punches are those at which the actors’ motions are punctuated by sound effects provided by a Foley artist, Patrick Killoran, who works onstage behind a scrim.

“Our Town” features a slew of talented actors, including two pillars of the local arts community as Emily’s parents: perennial favorite Ursula Gould and, in a rare onstage appearance, UAA drama professor David Edgecombe -- who can, as it turns out, walk his own talk.

Jaron Carlson is an earnest, endearing George. And Wilder purists, rest easy: Mark Robokoff is the stage manager you’re hoping for, with just the right balance of folksiness and gravitas — although his nondescript small-town accent is no more traceable to New England than any of the other actors’.

The highlights for me, though, are the performances of three capable, lively young actresses in three very different roles. Kate Williams, who plays Emily, is a UAA theater major who has obviously been hitting the books when it comes to treading the boards; Williams seems to mature with each new role, and she’s a perfectly lovely Emily.

Another UAA drama student and local theater regular, Julie-Joy Voss, should come off as miscast (she plays George’s mother, but she’s not all that much older than the actors playing her children) but brings a maturity to the role of Mrs. Gibbs that belies her youth.

Lindsey Leonard, a West High School student, has a smaller role as George’s sister Rebecca. While Leonard’s stage time is limited, she has a marvelous presence, and it’s hard to watch anyone else when she’s onstage. Leonard is bound for Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts in the fall, which means she’s only going to get better; hopefully, she’ll bring that talent back to Anchorage when she’s done.

“Our Town,” by Thornton Wilder, repeats at 7 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. and 3 p.m. Sun. through May 31. Tickets, $16, are available at www.centertix.net or (907) 263-2787.

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