Criticism > Drama Criticism > Our Town, Thornton Wilder - Hap Erstein (review date 23 November 1990)
Our Town, Thornton Wilder - Hap Erstein (review date 23 November 1990)
Hap Erstein (review date 23 November 1990)
SOURCE: Erstein, Hap. “Remarkable Our Town Dispenses Its Wisdom.” Washington Times (23 November 1990): E1.
[In the following review of the Washington, D.C., Arena Stage production of Our Town, Erstein praises Wilder's play for its wisdom and humor, and applauds this production for bringing out the darker, bolder elements of the play.]
There are plays so brimming with wisdom, humor and Americana that community-theater groups and high-school drama societies embrace them eagerly. As a result, most professional companies tend to shy away from these oft-seen treasures.
Thornton Wilder's Our Town fits this bill. And yet, fortunately, Arena Stage keeps returning to it. In this, the stage's 40th season, the current production is the company's fourth offering of the play. Arena may have a weakness for this homespun look at life and death in Grover's Corners, N.H. (pop....
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- Introduction
- Principal Works
- Criticism: Author Commentary
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Criticism: Our Town (1938)
- Hap Erstein (review date 23 November 1990)
- T. H. McCulloh (review date 2 April 1993)
- Malcolm Johnson (review date 23 July 1994)
- T. H. McCulloh (review date 9 December 1995)
- Critical Commentary
- Arthur H. Ballet (essay date 1956)
- Francis Fergusson (essay date 1956)
- George D. Stephens (essay date February 1959)
- Helmut Papajewski (essay date 1961)
- Winfield Townley Scott (essay date 1961)
- Malcolm Goldstein (essay date 1965)
- Donald Haberman (essay date 1967)
- Jan Austell (essay date 1968)
- Michael A. D'Ambrosio (essay date October 1971)
- John V. Hagopian and Arvin R. Wells (essay date 1971)
- Donald Haberman (essay date 1996)
- Bert Cardullo (essay date September 1998)
- Further Reading
- Copyright
