Hungry Hearts Tour | April 13 – June 9, 2017
A moving look at life in the small town of Grover’s Corners, Our Town examines what it means to grow up. Through three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity,” Thornton Wilder studies the deeply personal yet remarkably universal lives of the Webb and Gibbs families. This poignant American tale explores friendship, love, and death, but most importantly, what it truly means to live.
Kyle Powell in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Sara J. Griffin and Josh Clark in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Constance Swain and Zoe Speas in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Ross Neal and Constance Swain in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Ross Neal and J. C. Long in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Aleca Piper and Ross Neal in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Andrew Goldwasser in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Sara J. Griffin and Ross Neal in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Aleca Piper in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Cordell Cole and Ronald Román-Meléndez in OUR TOWN. Photo by TOMMY THOMPSON. 2017.
Acting Fellow
Kevin Hammond
Understudy George Gibbs
Meet Kevin Hammond, Acting Fellow at the American Shakespeare Center (ASC). Explore her extensive theatre experience and upcoming roles.
Joan Raube-Wilson
Understudy for Simon Stimson & Professor Willard
Meet Joan Raube-Wilson, Acting Fellow at the American Shakespeare Center (ASC). Explore her extensive theatre experience and upcoming roles.
Cast
Andrew Goldwasser
Stage Manager
PREVIOUSLY WITH THE ASC: Fluellen, Bedford, Constable of France in Henry V; Casca, Titinius, Strato, Plebian in Julius Caesar; Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest; Captain Bluntschli in …
K.P. Powell *
Mr. Webb
K.P. Powell is an actor and director with the American Shakespeare Center, known for his dynamic performances and bold storytelling on stage and off.
Zoe Speas
Mrs. Webb
THIS SEASON:
Constance Swain *
Emily Webb
Constance Swain is an innovative director whose bold vision and creative energy inspire captivating storytelling at ASC and beyond.
Cordell Cole
Wally Webb
THIS SEASON: Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
J.C. Long
Dr. Gibbs
PREVIOUSLY WITH ASC: Mr. Dashwood, Music Director in Sense and Sensibility; Macduff, Bloody Captain in Macbeth; Christopher Sly, Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew; Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, …
Sara J. Griffin *
Mrs. Gibbs & Choir
Sara J. Griffin is a gifted actor whose compelling and elegant performances light up the ASC stage and beyond.
Ross Neal
George Gibbs
PREVIOSLY WITH THE ASC: Henry V in Henry V; Octavius, Murellus, Metellus, Cicero, Caesar’s Servant in Julius Caesar; Merriman in The Importance of Being Earnest; Major Plechanoff in Arms and …
Aleca Piper
Rebecca Gibbs
PREVIOUSLY WITH THE ASC: Gloucester, Rambures, Jamy in Henry V; Cobbler, Lucius, Popilius, Cinna the Poet, Cato in Julius Caesar; Musician in The Importance of Being Earnest; Musician in Arms …
K.P. Powell *
Joe Crowell, Jr.
K.P. Powell is an actor and director with the American Shakespeare Center, known for his dynamic performances and bold storytelling on stage and off.
Josh Clark
Howie Newsome
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Ronald Román-Meléndez *
Professor Willard
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
Josh Clark
Simon Stimson
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Aleca Piper
Mrs. Soames
PREVIOUSLY WITH THE ASC: Gloucester, Rambures, Jamy in Henry V; Cobbler, Lucius, Popilius, Cinna the Poet, Cato in Julius Caesar; Musician in The Importance of Being Earnest; Musician in Arms …
Ronald Román-Meléndez *
Constable Warren
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
Cordell Cole
Si Crowell
THIS SEASON: Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
Cordell Cole
Baseball Player
THIS SEASON: Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
Josh Clark
Baseball Player
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Ronald Román-Meléndez *
Baseball Player
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
Cordell Cole
Joe Stoddard
THIS SEASON: Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
Ronald Román-Meléndez *
Sam Craig
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
Artistic Team
Jim Warren
Director
Jim Warren is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the American Shakespeare Center. He directed ASC’s first show, Richard III (in which he played Buckingham), and by the end of …
Thomas J. Coppola *
Asst. Director/Troupe Manager
Thomas J. Coppola was part of the American Shakespeare Center from 2015 to 2025.
Kendra Emmett
Asst. Troupe Manager/Understudy
Kendra holds an MLitt in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University and holds a BS in Theatre from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Victoria Depew
Costume Designer
Victoria is excited to return to American Shakespeare Center. Recent ASC credits include Richard III for the…
Jessica Van Essen
Assistant Costume Designer
Jessica brings years of costume design and construction knowledge to the ASC, from dying to leather work, design to tailoring, and everything in between. Originally from southern Iowa, she has …
Stephanie Holladay Earl
Choreography & Movement
Stephanie Holladay Earl is an accomplished actor, director, choreographer, & educator with over 15 years of experience, known for her impactful work.
Christopher Moneymaker
Properties Master
Chris has been designing and building props for the ASC since 2012. In that time, he’s provided props for over 60 productions, including (from Shakespeare): The Merchant of Venice; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Cymbeline; King John; Love’s Labour’s Lost; Twelfth Night; Julius Caesar; Henry VIII; The Two Noble Kinsmen; Romeo and Juliet; All’s Well That Ends Well; Troilus and Cressida; Othello; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Henry IV, Part 1; As You Like It; Timon of Athens; Macbeth; The Comedy of Errors; Pericles; Hamlet; Much Ado about Nothing; The Taming of the Shrew; Antony and Cleopatra; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Winter’s Tale; Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3; Henry V; The Tempest; Measure for Measure; and King Lear.
Stuff that Happens During the Play
- The scene opens in Act I: Daily Life, where the Stage Manager introduces a simple morning in the small town of Grover’s Corners in 1901.
- The Gibbs and Webb families, next-door neighbors, send their children George and Emily to school.
- In Act II: Love and Marriage, George and Emily nervously prepare for their wedding three years later.
- The Stage Manager flashes back to George and Emily’s junior year; over an ice cream soda, they discuss George’s pride, his future, and their shared love.
- Before the wedding, both George and Emily say they aren’t ready to get married, but their families encourage them to wed.
- Act III: Death and Dying, realizations, reliving, and funerals ensure.
Make Your Lives Extraordinary
Life is tears, fears, and smiles. – Taylor Carson
Our Town is a famous play. It’s a twentieth century classic. It debuted in 1938 at three different theatres in three different productions within the span of two weeks. It also garnered playwright Thornton Wilder a Pulitzer Prize that same year. Even with all the hoopla and accolades this play received, so what? Why should we care about this play three quarters of a century after it was written?
Some folks are drawn to Our Town because they think it’s a play about small town American life in the early 1900s. Yes and no. Wilder does paint a picture of simpler times and simpler ways, but I think that’s actually just the canvas for something even bigger. I don’t think the play is about this specific fictional town or small towns in general. That’s why he didn’t name the play Grover’s Corners. I think he called it Our Town because, ultimately, it’s not a play about people in 1901 in a village in New Hampshire. It’s a play about all of us, it’s a play about our towns and our lives, no matter where or when. Just as Romeo and Juliet is about us, our parents, our friends, our neighbors, so is Our Town. It became an enduring classic because it somehow reaches beyond just being about a single town; it’s about life. Wilder wrote:
Our Town is not offered as a picture of life in a New Hampshire village; or as a speculation about the conditions of life after death (that element I merely took from Dante’s Purgatory). It is an attempt to find value above all price for the smallest events of our daily life.
I didn’t choose to have Our Town in this Season because I thought it was a quaint look at a quaint time. I chose it because I believe this play is about our lives – right here, right now. There’s nothing idealized about Grover’s Corners when you take a hard look at it. Look for the subtle hypocrisies of the parents, the tragic cries for help from the alcoholic choirmaster, and the fears of young adults on their wedding day. The play takes us through the whole arc of existence: Daily Life; Love and Marriage; Death and Dying. And while we don’t get the star-crossed lovers ending their lives in suicide like in R&J or the attempted rape of a best friend’s girlfriend in 2Gents, we also don’t get a sterilized, idealized sentimentality. We get a look at life that asks us to look at our own lives. We get a plea to remember that each day matters. The soul of this play is akin to the film Dead Poets Society:
They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? Carpe, carpe diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary.
Wilder reminds us of our mortality throughout Our Town. The Stage Manager introduces characters and immediately tells us when they die. In Act III we discover a lot of information about how characters we met and loved earlier in the play have died. Life, Love, Marriage, Death. The heart of the play is the encouragement to make our lives count. Don’t wait to tell others what you really think. Don’t wait to live the life you want to live. And I guess that’s why we’ve got to love those people who deserve it like there’s no tomorrow; because when you get right down to it, there isn’t.
JIM WARREN
Artistic Director and Co-Founder