Free College Essays - Our Town by Thornton Wilder :: Wilder Our Town Essays

Our Town by Thornton Wilder   The dot jitney is a man of many mappings. Usually a stage passenger vehicle is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilders Our Town, the Stage Manager goes well beyond his habitual function in a play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the Stage Manager is a narrator, moderator, philosopher, and an actor. Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the theme of catholicity in the play. The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and subtle hints about the future. "Ive married over two-hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I dont know? M.marries N.millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading of the will-once in a thousand t ime its interesting"(699). Here the Stage Manager is plentiful discernment about George and Emilys future. He is hinting about their life and fate to come. "Goin to be a undischarged engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France. All that education for nothing" (673). The incidents discussed about are great events in George, Emily, and Joes lives. The Stage Manage emphasizes that the short things in these tribes lives are overlooked. There isnt realization that it is the small split of their lives that make a difference. His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage Managers narration shows casualness. The casualness connects the Stage Manager to the audience. " currently the STAGE MANAGER, hat on and pipe in mouthhe has finished setting the stage and leaning against the right proscenium lynchpin watches the late arrivals in the audience."(671) The informality is evident since he smokes a pipe, wears a hat, and leans formally against the proscenium pillar. He also greets and dismisses the audience at the runner and end of each act. The stage manager interrupts daily conversation on the street. The Stage Manager enters and leaves the dialog at will. He is also giving the foresight of death in the play. His informality in dress, manners, and speech, connects the theme, universality, of the production to the audience.