OT:OUR TOWN. A Famous American Play in an Infamous American Town Review

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(More customer reviews)THis documentary (and I hate to use that word, as it sounds so dreary) is set in a high school in a particularly awful Southern California community -- Compton. The only good thing about the school is the basketball team (one of the players goes directly to the Chicago Bulls after graduation) and the students tend to get pregnant (the girls) or get shot (the boys). A couple of idealistic teachers decide that it's time to try putting on a play -- something that hasn't happened in ages (if at all) at this high school. They pick Our Town, which is perhaps an odd choice given how middle America Our Town is, and how -- diverse -- the students at Dominguez H.S. in Compton are (Hispanic and African American). The students think a play sounds like fun but then they think they don't like the play and what if no-one comes to see them, etc. The teachers have trouble with students coming to rehearsal and memorizing their lines. The high school has no stage (great gym, however).
I won't tell you how the play turns out -- I was concerned myself the closer they got to opening day and couldn't imagine what it was like for the teachers.
I wish movies like this were more widely distributed. For one thing, getting to know the student actors in this movie helped you see the real diversity in Compton -- how different but real each student was, how in some ways the stereotype was true (violence is a big problem in Compton and the students aren't self-disciplined and bring quite a lot of baggage to class) and yet they have potential, talent, and their own stories to tell.
I highly recommend this movie.

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Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Two Historic Productions on Two DVD (1977) Review

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(More customer reviews)The text of this great play, opens no curtain, no scenery. Despite these revolutionary concepts, after writing Our Town, Thornton Wilder for the stage, he hoped there would eventually be a "definitive performance" for tv viewers to enjoy. In other words, he hated the 1940 box office movie with William Holden. In 1977 he worked along with a team of actors including Hal Holbrook, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Sada Thompson, Barbara Bel Geddes, and (fresh from Ode To Billy Joe) Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor. Although shot in a tv studio, they bent the rules slightly and added a touch of scenery, but it was so slight that it became the Grover's Corners New Hampshire that Wilder imagined. The performance was so good it was nominated for (and just might have won) an Emmy. Wilder died soon after happily, his definitive version made. His estate willed that another version for tv should not be made. Then in 1989, the late lamented Spaulding Grey headed another cast that did their best to remain completely faithful to the play as written. This Broadway performance was nominated for a Tony. A special performance was made for the executors of Wilder's estate who enjoyed it as much as the fore mentioned 1977 performance, that they allowed PBS to tape it for their "Great Performances" series. Since then, both of these showings have been hard to find on video. Now you can get them both in this nice (though pricey) 2 disc set. But trust me, it's worth the bucks. If you really need to "save money", order it from a "Marketplace Client", but buy it anyway. You will not regret it. Then for another very good showing, buy the 2003 PBS/Showtime presentation (on the PBS label) with Paul Newman, etc.

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Out of Our Fathers' House (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1978) Review

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(More customer reviews)This 70s production was enlightening, and it took me a couple of views to grasp the characters identities. The play, done in a nonconventional format, is about six women with remarkable and notable lives during our history. The six women come together to share their thoughts, dreams, struggles, bravery, movements, privileges, hardships, etc.
The storyline is based on a book by Eve Merriam, Growing Up Female in America (Beacon paperback). Although the book has 10 women, only 6 are present for the play. The title, From Our Father's House, theme derives from the clutches of their father, imposed or instilled. Better yet, the play is not hand-written; the text generates from the works of their journals, letters, diaries, etc. The six women who come together, take turns sharing and listening to one another are...
Dr. Anna Howard Stern (1847-1919), the first ordained women's preacher, doctor and leader of the sufferage movement. Listen, as she determined she overcame her father's message that reading was a waste of time, and she would make nothing of her life. She chose the pulpit over her own family.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), the first professional astronomer, whose father was an astronomer. She learned all about astronomy, but at that time, experienced that it was not as valued by the public for a woman with that knowledge.
Elizabeth Southgate (1783-1909), a young girl of privilege, went to finishing school, adored and respected her parents. She writes about finding the right man, marrying, becoming sick, (presumably TB). She died in her mid 20s. There is an interesting collection of her letters available in book form. A Girl's Life Eighty Years Ago: Selections From The Letters Of Eliza Southgate Bowne (1887).
Elizabeth Gertrude Stein (1890-1950), writer, journalist, feminist, shares when husband became sick, she worked in a department story, had a promotion, then went back home. Later, she became a profitable writing earning much.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), founder of the Women's Suffrage movement. She tells of her age at 12, when her brother in college died, and how he was the pride of her father's heart. She tried to match up to being a male, learning Greek, Latin, etc. Struggling to do it, her father said, "you should have been a boy!"
"Mother" Mary Jones (1830-1930), prominent labor organizer and powerful voice of the underprivileged. Wonderful story telling about her child labor movement. The most mature actress portraying Mary Jones has done a superb job.
Enjoyable, informative, educational, hear the voices of the past, similar to the present.....Rizzo


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The Skin of Our Teeth (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ignoring the conventions of time, this playful "message play," directed by Jack O'Brien, studies one family from the days of the glaciers and dinosaurs to a post-apocalyptic, modern world. George Antrobus (Harold Gould), the inventor of the wheel, and Maggie (Sada Thompson), his wife, the inventor of the apron, have two children, Gladys and Henry (who was previously called Cain). Sabina (Blair Brown), the flirtatious maid, acts as the initial guide to the characters and action, commenting on their interactions. As the play progresses through the eras, author Thornton Wilder raises questions about civilization and values. George, by Act II, is convinced that the world is made for pleasure and power, but in the final act, after a modern world cataclysm, the family confronts what is truly important in their lives.
The principal actors have, among them, won twenty-two Emmy nominations and twelve Golden Globe nominations, and they certainly live up to their billing here in this 1983 production, as they present their over-the-top characterizations, accentuated by exaggerated gestures and often eye-catching costuming. Harold Gould, as George, is hilarious as the overwhelmed father of the family. Blair Brown is as seductive a housemaid as her abbreviated costumes suggest she would be, and Sada Thompson in dowdy dress is motherly and thoughtful. Academy Award winner John Houseman, in a cameo role as a buttoned-up newscaster, could not be more formal, and the satiric fortune-teller, Rue McLanahan, is full of droll humor.
Giving additional visual impact to the play are a pet dinosaur and a wooly mammoth, a beauty pageant on the Boardwalk of New Jersey, a convention of the fraternal Order of Mammals, and several attempted seductions by predatory women. The play takes liberties with the audience as the various actors step out of character to address them, as does the director. By including the audience in the action, the author reminds them that they are also part of the conclusion and the resolution.
First produced in 1942, the play reflects Wilder's fear that the war then engulfing the world might truly be a war for the future of civilization. His conclusion, which highlights the values of western philosophers, such as Spinoza, Aristotle, and Plato, also incorporates his religious beliefs and his belief in the enduring values of (western) literature. "We've come a long way--we're learning," he says, hopefully, but he also reminds us that "the end of this play isn't written yet." Creative and original in its day, the play represents a major moment in American theater. Mary Whipple


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