“Our Town” Coming to Rose-Hulman’s Hatfield Hall

Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Three female students on stage in period costume

Daily life will never feel the same after you’ve been to “Our Town.” Catch the Rose Drama Club’s performance of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama at Hatfield Hall Nov. 1-4.

Set in the small New England town of Grover’s Corner in early 1900s America, Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” tells the story of a simpler time, yet the play is timeless for the powerful human themes its lays bare.

The winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for literature, “Our Town” is one of the most performed dramas in all of theater and is coming to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Hatfield Hall November 1-4.

Presented with minimalist sets and a narrator who interacts with the audience, “Our Town” is the story of Emily Webb and George Gibbs. As young neighbors, they become friends, fall in love and eventually marry. Despite a plot that sounds unremarkable, the story packs an emotional punch as the characters discover what was truly important in their lives, only after it is gone.

“It is a testament to the play’s brilliance that audiences continue to recognize themselves in the townspeople of Grover’s Corner,” says Terence Hartnett, director of theater programs and assistant professor of English at Rose-Hulman. ”The play invites us to examine familiar daily life in great detail and then urges us to embrace it as an enduring shared reality that binds us all throughout history.”

Rose Drama Club members making up the cast include Bo Geyer as the stage manager, Victoria Johns as Emily Webb, Cam Hudspeth as George Gibbs, Ryan Roetker as Dr. Gibbs, Erin Rudich as Mrs. Gibbs, and Jake McClure and Jade Davidson as Mr. and Mrs. Webb.

The Rose Drama Club will be performing “Our Town” November 1-3 at 7:30 p.m. in Hatfield Hall with a final show Sunday, November 4 at 1:30 p.m.

Seats are general admission and tickets are $10. They can be purchased at hatfieldhall.com, by calling 812-877-8544 or visiting the Hatfield Hall ticket desk Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or one hour before each show.