“Choose the least important day in your life. It will be important enough.”
– From “Our Town”
It is quite possibly the most-produced play in U.S. history. Since debuting in 1938, Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” has been a staple of Broadway, regional, community, college and high school theater.
But familiarity can be a blessing and a curse, said Andrea Urice, a teaching professor of drama in WashU’s Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences. “Almost everyone seems to have read it,” she said. “They’ve seen productions — or been in one! What do you do with all that history?”
As a director and dramaturg, Urice has largely worked on contemporary plays. But beginning Feb. 20, she’ll bring a new production of “Our Town” — the oldest play she’s directed at WashU — to Edison Theatre.
“I guess I was waiting for the right moment,” Urice said. “I was thinking, what might ‘Our Town’ have to say about community and interconnectedness right now, in 2026?
“My biggest hesitation was Act Three,” she added. “It wrecks me to this day. But eventually I realized that if one continues to love deeply and to think about the world … Well, Act Three is never not going to hurt.”
Profound connections
Set in the small fictional town of Grover’s Corners, N.H., “Our Town” opens just before dawn on May 7, 1901. A rooster crows. The first streaks of light peak over a distant mountain.
That pastoral setting can disguise Wilder’s formal inventiveness. The set design is emphatically minimalist, forgoing curtain, scenery and most props. Much of the play is narrated by the Stage Manager, who speaks directly to the audience. Main Street, the town hall, the post office, a half-dozen churches — all are described rather than seen. The narrative jumps back and forth in time.
At the center of that narrative are Emily Webb and George Gibbs. “They begin the play as teenagers,” Urice said. “They live next door to each other. In Act One, we meet their families and community, all these quirky people. We see the spark between them.”
“Act Two opens on the morning of George and Emily’s wedding,” Urice continued. “We’ve moved three years in the future, but then we go back to high school, to see how this love happened. We witness their date at a soda shop. We see them acknowledge a profound connection, without ever saying it out loud.”
Then comes Act Three. It’s nine years later. Several characters, the Stage Manager explains, have died. Mourners gather atop a small hill. The dead quietly watch a new procession arrive.
“At first, we don’t know who it is,” Urice said. But as the townspeople leave, the ghosts begin to chat. The latest arrival has an idea. Can one go back? Before the spirit finally departs, might one pause to relive a cherished moment?
“The dead say, ‘Don’t do it,’” Urice continued. The Stage Manager urges caution. Nothing destroys the past like knowledge of the future. But even in Grover’s Corners, such wisdom is hard won.
“This is not a perfect town,” Urice concluded. “There are issues and problems as well as joys and happiness. But there is a certain notion of community. We are all here together. There are ties that bind.”
Cast and crew
The cast of 18 is led by Avery Melton-Meaux as the Stage Manager, Faye Ma as Emily and Lucas Salazar as George. Elisabeth Pease and Jacob Elliott are Mrs. and Mr. Webb. Raquel “Elle” Brouwer and Martín Ibarra Diaz De Vivar are Mrs. and Dr. Gibbs.
Cole Becker plays local milkman Howie Newsome. TJ Cannistraro is Emily’s younger brother, Wally. Minjung Song is George’s younger sister, Rebecca. Tristan Dumas is choirmaster Simon Stimson, with Alyson Lone Bear as the singer Mrs. Soames. Henry Rosenzweig is Constable Warren.
Eli Regardie plays paperboy Joe Crowell and his younger brother, Si. Rounding out the cast, each in a variety of roles, are Hailey Bagby, Coco Jones, Kim Vung and Riley Strelow.
Scenic design is by Robert Mark Morgan, with assistance from Anthen Primus. Costume design is by Nikki Green. Lighting design is by Sean M. Savoie, with assistance from Jonah Glass. Sound design is by Charlotte Corcoran. Emily Frei is props designer and scenic charge artist, with assistance from Elena Caballero.
Technical director is Adam Jehle. Stage manager is AJ Harness, with assistance from Stella Larson and Noa Levy. Jimmy Bernatowicz is production manager. Luke Terrell (BA ’13) served as videographer.
Tickets
Performances of “Our Town” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in WashU’s Edison Theatre Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20 and 21; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22. Performances will continue the following weekend, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27 and 28; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1.
Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6465 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are $20, or $15 for seniors, students and WashU faculty and staff, and free for WashU students. Tickets are available through the WashU Box Office. For information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.wustl.edu.
