Free College Essays - Our Town by Thornton Wilder :: Wilder Our Town Essays

Our Town by Thornton Wilder   The format animal trainer is a man of many roles. commonly a stage manager is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilders Our Town, the Stage write outr goes hearty beyond his usual function in a play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the Stage Manager is a vote counter, moderator, philosopher, and an actor. Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the theme of universality in the play. The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and subtle hints about the future. "Ive married over two-hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I dont know? M.marries N.millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading of the will-once in a thou sand times its elicit"(699). Here the Stage Manager is giving insight about George and Emilys future. He is hinting about their life and fate to come. "Goin to be a great engineer, Joe was. scarcely the war broke out and he died in France. All that education for nothing" (673). The incidents discussed about are great events in George, Emily, and Joes lives. The Stage Manage emphasizes that the short things in these peoples lives are overlooked. There isnt realization that it is the small parts of their lives that make a difference. His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage Managers narration shows casualness. The casualness connects the Stage Manager to the audience. "Presently the STAGE MANAGER, hat on and pipe in tattlehe has finished setting the stage and leaning against the right proscenium pillar watches the late arrivals in the audience."(671) The informality is evident since he smokes a pipe, wears a hat, and leans formally against the proscenium pillar. He also greets and dismisses the audience at the beginning and end of each act. The stage manager interrupts daily conversation on the street. The Stage Manager enters and leaves the dialog at will. He is also giving the foresight of death in the play. His informality in dress, manners, and speech, connects the theme, universality, of the production to the audience.