An LGBTQ Perspective On Thornton Wilder's "Our Town"

In Howard Sherman’s newly published book Another Day’s Begun – his “biography of a play” on Thornton Wilder’s Our Town – several actors interviewed talked about the LGBTQ subtexts they found in the classic work.

As reflected in the new book’s subtitle, “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century,” Sherman deals with contemporary approaches to the metatheatrical work which had its Broadway premiere in 1938 and still remains one of the most-produced American plays. Sherman’s book includes interviews with more than 100 artists who have staged adaptations of the play or have otherwise been inspired by it.

Set at the turn of the last century in the small, fictional New Hampshire town of Grover’s Corners, and detailing the unremarkable minutiae of family and civic life there, Our Town is sometimes thought of as an old-fashioned, sentimental work of vintage Americana.  Nothing could be further from the dozen wide-ranging productions that Sherman, a New Haven native, profiles in his book, all of which have taken place in the last 20 years.

Some of these productions served as a community balm following national and local tragedies. A 2002 production at the Westport Country Playhouse starring Paul Newman followed the shock of the 9/11 attacks. (That version transferred to Broadway and was later televised for PBS.) Another production in Manchester, England by the Royal Exchange Theatre followed the 2017 arena bombing there.

Sherman also profiles David Cromer’s New York landmark work in 2009-10 – the longest run of the play in its 83-year history – as well as productions as varied as those by Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles, which incorporated American Sign Language, and the Miami New Drama production, which was trilingual.

Sherman also includes several extraordinary…CONTINUED