Review: Our Town, Rose Theatre
Review: Our Town, Rose Theatre
A collaboration between Welsh National Theatre and the Rose offers a moving, thoughtful staging of a classic play
Thornton Wilder’s profound play about the everyday lives of ordinary people is brought vividly to life on the intimate stage of the Rose Theatre. And what a powerful production it is.
Written in 1937 and performed on Broadway a year later, Our Town has long been considered Wilder’s masterpiece. Its themes are universal and, in many ways, timeless. Set in Grover’s Corners, the play focuses on a small community where people rub along: they work, they laugh, they sing, they fall in love, raise their children and grow old. Yet within these ordinary moments lie deeper truths that reach out to us all, alongside a plea to cherish every moment while you can.
This new production, a collaboration between the Rose Theatre and Welsh National Theatre, brings a distinctive perspective. While the action remains in America, the accents are Welsh, and there are references to Welsh names and phrases. The effect is to create a shared theatrical space: Grover’s Corners becomes somewhere that could be anywhere.
Michael Sheen takes on the role of the Stage Manager, a narrator guiding the audience through the story. His presence draws you in, making you aware that you are being invited to watch the lives of this community unfold. Sheen commands the stage, his deep voice and twinkling eyes holding the audience’s attention throughout.
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The staging is minimal but highly effective. A backdrop of tall grasses moves around the stage, while large planks are handled deftly by the cast to represent different spaces such as a church. At one point, actors move Sheen around on the planks while he speaks, creating a dynamic sense of movement. The set is always shifting, reflecting life itself, while also emphasising the natural landscape of the town. Lighting changes to bathe the stage in a full moon or a canopy of stars.
The first act focuses on the minutiae of daily life. We watch a girl and a boy fall in love and marry. It could be a long 90 minutes for the first act but it is beautifully acted, with the cast creating believable characters that bring the audience into their world.
It is after the interval that the deeper meaning of the play becomes clear. Some characters we have followed from the beginning return as ghosts, brilliantly imagined sitting atop ladders looking down on those they have left behind. It would perhaps give too much away to say exactly who or how, but the effect is moving.
There is a risk with a play such as this that it could become mawkish. Yet this production avoids that. There are moments of genuine humour throughout, and the performances remain grounded and human. The result is something deeply affecting. The play encourages us to reflect on the people who raised us, the value of community and belonging, and the simple fact that our time in the world is short.
This production is also significant as Michael Sheen’s inaugural production with the Welsh National Theatre, the company he founded and leads as Artistic Director. His ambition is to champion bold storytelling and ambitious plays, while giving Welsh talent a pathway to the world stage.
Having already run in Wales earlier this year, the production is now at the Rose Theatre until 28 March. It is a moving, thoughtful staging of a classic play, one that reminds us that life, in all its ordinary beauty, is happening right now. And it is no dress rehearsal.
