“Our Town:” Everybody’s Town

***image1***Audiences in the KMC have a chance to feel what it’s like to be dead
when Thornton Wilder’s award-winning play, “Our Town,” starts a
four-week run tonight at KMC Onstage.

This feeling can actually be described as Wilder’s reminder to love
life and all the small and seemingly mundane things that come with it.

“’Our Town’ gives you a chance to think about life and what makes it a
fleeting tableau of wonderful experiences,” said the director, Jacque
Kilduff.
“Sleeping, waking up, smelling the flowers and a good cup of coffee are still feats of wonder.”

Wilder’s play, written in 1938, is all about life and people living in
Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in the early-to-mid 1900s. Throughout
the three-part play, audiences learn details about the town, the
families and individuals who live there, love and marriage, and life
and death.

“This play helps us to take a step back and give thanks for our
freedoms and those little tiny meaningless events that actually make us
human beings,” said Mrs. Kilduff, who has performed professionally in
Baltimore and Fredericksburg, Md., Pittsburgh, Richmond and
Williamsburg, Va.
Stealing one of her lines as “Emily Webb,” Heather Baldwin said, “People just don’t notice life as it happens.”

***image2***Using her own words, Ms. Baldwin said, “Hopefully, this play just helps
people to step back and take a look at how lucky their lives are and
the wonderful blessings they have, and just enjoy it.”

As the “Stage Manager,” Army 1st Lt. Tory Marcon guides the audience
throughout “Our Town,” introducing the townspeople and highlighting the
play’s message with phrases like, “You’ve got to love life to have
life; you’ve got to have life to love life.”

Lieutenant Marcon also portrayed the Stage Manager while he was in high school.

“I wanted the same part because it’s a whole lot of fun,” he said.
“This is not the average play because it breaks what is called the
fourth wall, where the audience lives.”

Performances are 7:30 p.m. today, Saturday, May 26 and 27, June 2, 3, 9
and 10, and 3 p.m. May 28 and June 11. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $8
for students and $6 for children 12 and under. Call 483-7127 or e-mail
kmconstage@yahoo.com for details.