I can't recall when I first read or saw a production of Thornton Wilder's play, Our Town. If I did read it in a high school English class, I'm fairly certain it had no profound effect on me at that time. It had to have been later, sometime in Act 2 of my life. That was when I was actually teaching Our Town to high school students, and at some point realized how well this play dramatizes what I believe about the passing of time, and the appreciation of each day of life.
Wilder constructed the play into Act 1 (Daily Life), Act 2 (Love and Marriage) and Act 3 (Death). A drama can hardly get more basic than that. But the truths are deep.
One writer, recalling a similar experience to my own, says: "By the late eighties, I had entered my thirties and had a foothold in life; I had buried both my parents; I had protested a devastating war; and I had fallen in love. In other words, I had lived enough of life to finally understand what was so great about Our Town."
So, what exactly gives the 1937 play its greatness ? I think its power lies in its ability to celebrate how valuable are all the days of life. Even the most ordinary of days eventually proves to be extraordinarily precious. As the Webb and Gibbs families and other Grover's Corners townsfolk are introduced, we see them as they are now, but we're told ahead of time by the narrating Stage Manager character about triumphs and tragedies that will come into their lives much later. There is a striking poignancy about seeing them live life, while we, but not they, know how much longer they have to live it. Naturally, we can't help but wonder what we'd do with that same information.
Throughout the play, the characters astonish us by asking the same questions or making the same observations about life that we have.
Emily Webb, a young bride-to-be, says to her father,
"Why can't I stay for awhile just as I am ?", reminding all of us of those times when, on the verge of adulthood, we may have longed for the carefree days of childhood.
What we've come to experience for ourselves about how quickly time passes is simply, but eloquently confirmed by the Stage Manager in the opening lines of Act 2, when he tells us what's happened since the end of Act 1:
"Three years have gone by. Yes, the sun's come up over a thousand times. Summers and winters have cracked the mountains a little bit more and the rains have brought down some of the dirt. Some babies that weren't even born before have begun talking regular sentences already; and a number of people who thought they were right young and spry have noticed that they can't bound up a flight of stairs like they used to, without their heart fluttering a little. All that can happen in a thousand days....."
Later, the Stage Manager makes a similar observation:
"You know how it is: you're twenty-one or twenty-two and you make some decisions; then whisssh! you're seventy: you've been a lawyer for fifty years, and that white-haired lady at your side has eaten over fifty thousand meals with you."
Finally, in Act 3, there's no avoiding the reality of death. Although Wilder's view of Eternity doesn't appear to be a Christian view, he does allow that there is something permanent about every human being.
Looking back, I can see now that Our Town's view on the passage of time had an interesting effect on the way I spiritually perceive people. When I look at a young child or a middle-aged person, I now mentally envision them through each stage of life, and think of who they might be in their old age. When I see someone who has reached old age, I try to imagine who they were in their prior stages of life. In both instances, my hope is to better love them as they are right now.
If it's been awhile since you read it, or if you never have, spend some sand from your hourglass and experience the play, either by reading it or, better yet, watching a production. My guess is it will likely help you to better appreciate the definition of the word whisssh.
No comments:
Post a Comment