The Skyline Drama Department performed Our Town for this year’s winter play. A three-act play written by Thornton Wilder, Our Town was performed on the stage at Skyline High School from February 21 to 24, and 26.
The director of Our Town was Michelle Yamazaki, who is also Skyline’s drama teacher. The play was double-casted, with two different sets of cast performed on different nights: Town Hall and Main Street. The set of Our Town has no scenery and makes minimal use of props. Those props symbolized the setting in the play. The Stage Manager, played by Aiden Stephen and Alexia Smith respectively, also helped the audience understand the events throughout the play.
Our Town takes place in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. It follows the lives of families through growing up, living, and dying. “It is a metaphor for how life is,” said Scarlett Hall, who was the assistant director and played Town Hall’s Professor Willard. Anna Chia, who played Town Hall’s Emily Webb, one of the lead roles, said, “[Our Town] focuses on different relationships: families, friends, and romantic relationships.” Our Town includes three acts: ‘Daily Life,’ ‘Love and Marriage,’ and ‘Death and Eternity,’ presenting the theme of cycle of life. “In it you learn the meaning of life through the lives of Emily Webb, George Gibbs, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Webb, and many others,” explained Dylan Bywater, who played Town Hall’s Dr. Gibbs.
The actors worked and rehearsed together for months. “There were months of work, so many rehearsals, so many hours after school, lots of memorizing outside of school, and rehearsals,” said Chia. During the rehearsals, they worked together to make sure that they could get the play up and running. Hall said, “For show days, we meet early, so we can all focus with each other to make sure that we are all on the same page once we start.”
There were some obstacles that had to be overcome when preparing for the play. The biggest struggle was the absence of Yamazaki. “Our director, Miss Yamazaki, is unfortunately out for about a month and a half, so we have to work really hard to make sure that her blocking was honored, and we had a lot of help from Mr. Rogan,” said Hall. Most of the rehearsals were done virtually, which could also be challenging for the stage crew. Adrien Quitasol, the stage manager, said, “We didn’t have a lot of time to create a set until the last minute because of how long she was gone.” Other challenges for the cast included problems with remembering their lines and projection. Lillian Dmitrieva, a member of the ensemble, said, “Sometimes we have these times where we didn’t know our lines or we had trouble remembering them, so we have to practice them at home.” However, they successfully managed to overcome these challenges and gave a wonderful performance.
Members of the cast explained that they enjoy working with each other and being part of the play. “Being in this play has been really meaningful for me in many ways…I am grateful to have worked with such an amazing cast to put on such a terrific show,” said Bywater. Quitasol said that being the stage manager for Our Town “is a really good honor. I’m very happy to be chosen for that.” They shared a good experience together and agreed that Skyline’s Drama Department is a great community. “We all built such strong bonds together,” said Hall. Bywater added, “We all become so close with each other that we are almost like family.”
Our Town left the audiences with an impressive experience and a meaningful message. “I absolutely love this play. I didn’t know about Our Town before, so I didn’t expect the ending. But it was a really good play. The actors also did great,” said one audience member. Many of the audience felt emotional during the more dramatic third act, and some started crying with the actors. “I love the dramatic part…I saw many people crying. I almost cried also. It’s just so good. The actors were amazing,” said another audience member. “I made a lot of people cry, which was my goal ,” Chia said with a laugh. The audience agreed that Our Town gave them an inspiring message. Bywater said that anyone who watches Our Town “leaves with a new sense of purpose in life for many years to come.”
