Comments on: Our Town

By: Molly

Molly — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:41:05 +0000

Plus, we always get Our Town and Spoon River Anthology mixed up. At least I do.

By: MarcLord

MarcLord — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:02:12 +0000

That’s a tombstone that says, “Whistle past THIS!”

There are some fine observations in your review, thank you, but the real gem is that we all think we’ve seen Our Town and really can’t remember where. Was I forced to see it in school? Was it in a movie? A church play? KathyR’s 1977 version is probably what I saw, but I almost don’t want to know. It’s such Americana that it’s passed into our subconscious fibers like carbon tetrachloride.

Well–what a fine, civilized thing to be doing, watching a whole weeks’ worth of plays in Ashland! Enjoy. And this our life, exempt from public haunt/finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks/sermons in stones and good in every thing. (As You Like It)

By: KathyR

KathyR — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:44:01 +0000

I’ve always liked Our Town, even if it is one of those high school requirements.

Wasn’t there a TV version with Hal Holbrook as the stage manager?

Yes! IMDB says yes. In 1977.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:40:26 +0000

Thanks, John. I don’t think I said anything new, I was just hashing it out in my head. The tombstone actually stands sentinel over several Philbin graves, in cemetery in a town a lot like Grover’s Corners. I walk through there sometimes and see all the old, familiar family surnames from my growing up there, like they’re whispering.

By: John

John — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:52:20 +0000

Very nice synopsis and analysis, Phil. I agree with it in its entirety. I have both read and seen Our Town, but it’s been so long ago I can barely remember. Hence my agreement with your synopsis and analysis may be unduly colored by the passage of time. Sorry to see your tombstone, by the way, but glad it appears to be made of a sufficiently high quality granite to befit your contributions to mankind.