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The Actors' Gang Brings a Fresh 'Our Town' to Culver City
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Vanessa Mizzone and Chris Schultz. Photo by Jean-Louis Darville.
Sometimes you need gimmicks to get people out to the theater. A small picnic with homemade goodies and a pie-tasting contest for a pre-show and post-show reception opened The Actors' Gang revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," but director Justin Zsebe had a few refreshing surprises on stage as well.
You've probably all heard of the story. The set is minimal although Will Pellegrini has added some touches that give you a sense of nostalgia--gold clam shells covering the footlights on stage and swings used in an unexpected way.
Steven M. Porter as the Stage Manager speaks to us in comforting, soothing tones, telling us about a small town called Grover's Corner in New Hampshire between 1901 to 1913. This is an innocent time before the world wars. Neighbors Mrs. Webb (Lindsley Allen), Mrs. Gibbs (Annemette Andersen), and Mrs. Soames (April Fitzsimmons) whisper about the public drunkness of the church organist, Simon Stimson (Brian Kimmet). Mrs. Gibbs dreams of a trip to Paris with the serious workaholic Dr. Gibbs (Nathan Kornelis). Things are changing with the development of "Polish Town."
Director Zsebe has squeezed in moments of humor where one doesn't necessarily find them and this is a welcome touch. Even a little aerial acrobatic moment worked for Katie Malia's characterization of George's younger sister, Rebecca.
Yet Zsebe hasn't strayed from the essential character of the play. Emily (Vanessa Mizzone) and George (Chris Schultz) still climb on ladders to speak to each other to represent communications from one second-story window to another. They fall in love and marry and death parts them.
Mizzone's Emily sparkles while Schultz shows youthful exuberance. At first, they don't seem like the perfect pair, but they grow on you as a couple, increasing the depth of sadness.
Imagine how quaint some of the small town rituals must seem now. Who receives deliveries of milk brought by a horse-drawn cart? In the 1930s and 1940s, some people must have recalled their childhoods. Yet this time, I wondered if in a decade or so will this mention of newspaper boys in this 1938 play also seem quaint and from another time?
This is a lovely, well-acted production that reminds us of a simpler time, a simpler way of life and the values of family that we often miss while we are still alive. Does Mrs. Gibbs regret not going to Paris or did she finally find she was satisfied with the life she had in Grover's Corner? Did she just live life or pursue it? And what do we miss as every minute goes by? You don't need pie to savor those thoughts on the way home.
"Our Town," The Actors' Gang at the Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. $20-$25. Ends June 6. Thursday nights are pay-what-you-can.
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