TPG PRODUCTION OF "OUR TOWN" HIGHLIGHTS
GARNER CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
By Robert W. McDowell
Last weekend's rousing production of OUR TOWN by the Towne Players of
Garner, performed as part of the Garner Centennial Celebration, was a real treat
not only for fans of this perennially popular masterpiece of Modern Drama by
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), but for Triangle
theatergoers in general. TPG director Beth Honeycutt added to her directorial
laurels by staging this epic drama of life in small-town America, at the dawn
of the 20th century, on the postage-stamp-sized stage of The Garner Historic
Auditorium.
In dividing the role of Stage Manager between two TPG stalwarts, Holmes
Morrison and Frances Stanley, and adding slide projections of vintage photos of
turn-of-the-century scenes of Garner and its inhabitants, Honeycutt
underscored the timeless nature and universal themes of this classic portrait of
everyday life, love and romance, and death in the United States, circa 1901-13. In
changing the locale from Grover's Corners, New Hampshire to Garner, North
Carolina, Honeycutt also accommodated the distinctly Southern accents of many of
the performers.
Beth Honeycutt's husband, Scott, served with distinction as the show's
technical director, devising a few versatile pieces of scenery to suggest the
various locales where the play's events unfold; and costume designer David
Serxner did a magnificent job of dressing the huge TPG cast in a vivid array of
authentic period costumes. These TPG players are all dressed up, and they make
the most of their moments in the spotlight.
Holmes Morrison and Frances Stanley, who have great chemistry and
delighted TPG audiences with their antics in DRIVING MISS DAISY, smoothly share the
Stage Manager's role, providing incisive, godlike commentary on the goings on.
Jeffrey Nugent and Kelly Stansell are good as Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs; and Mark
Anderson and Sandra Shelton acquit themselves well as the Gibbses' next-door
neighbors, Editor and Mrs. Webb.
Joshua Hamilton gives a passionate performance as high school baseball
phenom-turned-farmer George Gibbs; and Carla Ammons is excellent as Emily Webb,
the lovely and intelligent girl-next-door who becomes George's wife and soul
mate. Arlie Honeycutt and Blake Stansell are cute as George's worshipful little
sister, Rebecca, and Emily's spunky little brother, Wally.
Michael Armstrong and Dave Brooks are personable as milkman Howie Newsome
and Constable Warren, respectively; and Gekeela Ray is a hoot as the gossipy
Mrs. Soames. But Rusty Sutton steals the show with his sour expressions and
surly body language as the unhappy, openly bored, and not-so-secretly drunken
choirmaster Simon Stimson.
All in all, the only thing that this outstanding Towne Players of Garner
presentation of OUR TOWN lacked is a longer run. Maybe TPG will reprise it
sometime in the not-too-distant future.
TOWNE PLAYERS OF GARNER: http://www.towneplayers.org/. GARNER CENTENNIAL
CELEBRATION: http://www.garner100.com/. INTERNET BROADWAY DATABASE:
http://www.ibdb.com/Show.asp?id=6845. THORNTON WILDER SOCIETY:
http://www.thorntonwildersociety.org/.
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WHAT: ROBERT'S REVIEWS is a FREE weekly e-mail theatrical newsletter written
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WHO: Since 1973, ROBERT W. McDOWELL has written theater, book, and music
reviews for SPECTATOR Magazine of Raleigh, NC; the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER; THE
RALEIGH TIMES; and NORTH CAROLINA Magazine of Raleigh. SCOTT ROSS is a
prize-winning playwright who has written theater criticism for SPECTATOR (1981-86),
movie and book reviews for the N&O (1986-91), and served as dance, comedy, and
theater editor for Triangle.citysearch.com (1998-2000). He has been the CD
reviewer for the quarterly SONDHEIM REVIEW since 1994. ROBERT'S REVIEWS has nothing
whatsoever to do with any of these publications.
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