Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre Company has announced it’s full cast and creative team for Our Town, directed by Terrence J. Nolen, to run May 22-June 22.

This production will take place in both the Haas Theatre and the adjacent Christ Church, and will feature guest appearances from over 100 local personalities and 36 community choirs.

The principal cast will feature Oberon Adjepong (Joe Stoddard), Fred Andersen (Simon Stimson), Krista Apple (A Woman From Among the Dead / Ensemble), Bev Appleton (Professor Willard), Carla Belver (Mrs. Soames), Rebecca Blumhagen (Emily Webb), David Corenswet (Si Crowell/Joe Crowell/Ensemble), Chioma Dunkley (Rebecca Gibbs), Sherri L. Edelen (Mrs. Gibbs), Nathan Edmondson (Sam Craig), Eric Hissom (Stage Manager), Cleo House, Jr. (Constable), Jordan Johnson (Wally Webb), Kevyn Morrow (Dr. Gibbs), Harry Philibosian (Ensemble), Peterson Townsend (George Gibbs), JoAnna Rhinehart (Mrs. Webb), Brian Anthony Wilson (Howie Newsome), Greg Wood (Mr. Webb), and Damien Wallace (A Man From Among the Dead / Ensemble).

The townspeople will be played by Robert Bauer, Craig Bazan, Katrina Yvette Cooper, Juanita Frederick, Andy Joos, Brian Kurtas, Erin Read, Wendy Staton, and Tara Van Ness.

The creative team will include Jim Kronzer (sets), Richard St. Clair (costumes), Justin Townsend (lighting), and Troy Herion (sound).

For more information, call 215-922-1122 or visit www.ardentheatre.org.

What is Our Town about?

Our Town is a three act play by Thornton Wilder which is, perhaps, the most frequently produced play by an American playwright. The play is set in the fictional community of Grover’s Corners, modeled after several New Hampshire towns in the Mount Monadnock region: Jaffrey, Peterborough, Dublin, and others. Using meta-theatrical devices, the play is set in a 1930’s theater. Through the actions of the Stage Manager, the town of Grover’s Corners is created for the audience and scenes from its history between the years of 1901 and 1913 play out. Wilder, in his 30s, lived in MacDowell Colony in Peterborough in June, 1937, one of many locations where Wilder worked on the play. The third act was drafted entirely in one day during a visit to Zurich in September of 1937 after a long evening walk in the rain with a friend.

Our Town is a story of character development that details the interactions between citizens of an everyday town in the early 20th century through their everyday lives (particularly the lives of George Gibbs, a doctor’s son, and Emily Webb, the daughter of a newspaper editor).

Our Town was first performed at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey on January 22, 1938. It next opened at the Wilbur Theater in Boston on January 25, 1938. Its New York City debut was on February 4, 1938 at Henry Miller’s Theatre, and later moved to the Morosco Theatre.