Our Town is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners … See more

Wilder began making notes for the play while he was teaching and lecturing in Chicago in the 1930s. Constantly on the move, he worked on the play wherever he went. In June 1937, he stayed in the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire See more

In Wilder's writing of Our Town, he employed a metatheatrical style. He utilized the Stage Manager role to narrate the story and also to appear as several different characters. The Stage Manager, as the play's "Narrator," creates the story's point of view. The … See more

Act I: Daily Life
The Stage Manager introduces the audience to the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, and the people living there as a morning begins in the year 1901. Joe Crowell delivers the paper to Doc Gibbs, … See more

Primary characters
• Stage Manager – A narrator, commentator, and guide through Grover's Corners. He joins in the action of the play periodically, as the … See more

The play is set in the actual theatre where the play is being performed, but the date is always May 7, 1901. The Stage Manager of the May 7, 1901, production introduces the See more

Our Town was first performed at McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 22, 1938.
It next opened at the See more