Our Town

Play by Thornton Wilder. Birth; marriage; death. And everything in between. Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play follows a generation of villagers in the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners in New England as it recounts the story of an average town's citizens through their everyday lives and in doing so, celebrates what it means to be human, the bonds that hold communities together, and our relationships with the ancient past and the eternal tomorrow.

West End London Premiere 1946 with Marc Connelly

1st West End London Revival 1991 with Alan Alda

London Revival 2013 with Simon Dobson

London Revival 2014 with David Cromer

London Revival 2019 with Laura Rogers

Thornton Wilder's 1954 play The Matchmaker provided the basis for Jerry Herman's musical comedy Hello, Dolly!.


Our Town: Original West End London Production 1946 - Marc Connelly

Opened 30 April 1946, Closed 25 May 1946 at the New Theatre (Noel Coward Theatre)

The cast featured Marc Connelly as 'Stage Manager', Carolyn Wall as 'Emily Webb', Lester Lonergan as 'Mr Charles Webb', Marjorie Garret as 'Mrs Myrtle Webb', Richard Hylton as 'George Gibbs', Robert Burton as 'Dr Frank Gibbs', and Esther Somers as 'Mrs Julia Gibbs'

Directed by Jed Harris.


Our Town: 1st West End London Revival 1991 - Alan Alda

Previewed 28 August 1991, Opened 5 September 1991, Closed 30 November 1991 at the Shaftesbury Theatre

The cast featured Alan Alda as 'Stage Manager', Jemma Redgrave as 'Emily Webb', John Normington as 'Mr Charles Webb', Rowena Cooper as 'Mrs Myrtle Webb', Robert Sean Leonard as 'George Gibbs', John Rower as 'Dr Frank Gibbs', and Rosemary Martin as 'Mrs Julia Gibbs'.

Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman with sets by David B Sackeroff, costumes by Robert Wojewodski, lighting by Brian MacDevitt, and sound by James Capenos.


Our Town: London Revival 2013 - Simon Dobson

Previewed 26 June 2013, Opened 28 June 2013, Closed 20 July 2013 at the King's Head Theatre

The cast featured Simon Dobson as 'Stage Manager', Giovanni Bienne, Sam Child, Stewart Clegg, Ben Z. Fuiava, Cristina Haraba, Siu-see Hung, Dylan Lincoln, Princess McDonnough, Tamarin McGinley, Alex Nasmyth, Andres Ortiz, Zoe Swenson-Graham, and Rita Walters.

Directed by Tim Sullivan with designs by Neil Gordon and lighting by Paul O'Shaughnessy.

Presented as a "75th Anniversary Production" by the Savio(u)r Theatre Company.


Our Town: London Revival 2014 - David Cromer

Previewed 9 October 2014, Opened 17 October 2014, Closed 29 November 2014 at the Almeida Theatre

The cast featured David Cromer as 'Stage Manager', Laura Elsworthy as 'Emily Webb', Richard Lumsden as 'Mr Charles Webb', Kate Dickie as 'Mrs Myrtle Webb', David Walmsley as 'George Gibbs', Rashan Stone as 'Dr Frank Gibbs', and Anna Francolini as 'Mrs Julia Gibbs'.

Directed by David Cromer with sets by Stephen Dobay, costumes by Alison Siple, lighting by Heather Gilbert, and music by Jonathan Mastro.


Our Town: London Revival 2019 - Laura Rogers

Previewed 16 May 2019, Opened 22 May 2019, Closed 8 June 2019 at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park

A major revival of Thornton Wilder's 1938 play Our Town in London for a strictly limited three-week season

The cast featured Laura Rogers as 'Stage Manager', Francesca Henry as 'Emily Webb', Tom Edden as 'Mr Charles Webb', Thusitha Jayasundera as 'Mrs Myrtle Webb', Arthur Hughes as 'George Gibbs', Karl Collins as 'Dr Frank Gibbs', and Pandora Colin as 'Mrs Julia Gibbs', with Phil Adele, Jim Findley, Peter Hobday, Terique Jarrett, Louis Martin, Miriam Nyarko, David Ridley and Garry Robson.

Directed by Ellen McDougall, with movement by Sasha Milavic Davies, designs by Rosie Elnile, lighting by Lizzie Powell, music by Orlando Gough, and sound by Tom Gibbons.

When this production opened at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in May 2019, Giles Smith in the Daily Mail wrote that "as the omniscient Stage Manager Laura Rogers smartly comes across as both warmly welcoming and coolly mysterious - attached and detached. Francesca Henry and Arthur Hughes are both excellent in the key roles of the teen lovers Emily and George, and there is sound back-up everywhere." Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph said that, "in Ellen McDougall's breezy, unforced revival, the cast largely wear modern gear and mime basic actions... It's not a big 'showy' night out, and the acting is all the better for being straightforward and unaffected... It won't change your life, but it may make you think about it." Ann Treneman in the Times highlighted that "it feels more radio set than small town America. Ellen McDougall directs and creates what is, at times, a distinctly underpowered sort of place... There are some fine performances, especially from our teenage couple. Francesca Henry is engaging as Emily Webb, the headstrong daughter of the newspaper editor, and Arthur Hughes is more than likeable as the baseball-mad George Gibbs. Yet we watch them as outsiders. Our hearts are not engaged... I'm afraid this is not our town, but someone else's." Henry Hitchings in the London Evening Standard thought that "Francesca Henry and Arthur Hughes are touching as Emily and George, the lovers caught up in the story's darker moments... and there's jaunty support from Tom Edden as the editor of the local paper. Though ultimately poignant, Ellen McDougall's revival is short on energy. It's faithful to Thornton Wilder's stipulation that his work should be performed 'simply, dryly and sincerely'. Yet in striving for an understated style, it slips into a rather sluggish vagueness."

Our Town in London at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has public previewed from 16 May 2019, opened on 22 May 2019, and closed on 8 June 2019