THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509260102
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: Montague Gammon
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The Little Theatre of Virginia Beach production of ``Our Town'' takes a calmly factual, almost journalistic approach to this familiar American drama.
The tone of this play will always be set by the character called the Stage Manager. Played here by Richard May, he narrates three acts that purport to relate, in documentary form, some events in the town of Grover's Corner, N.H., between 1901 and 1913.
May's acting is smooth and unruffled, with a self-effacing approach that director Aaron McGlothlin obviously decided should not distract from the core of the drama. That core is the romance between George Gibbs and Emily Webb, from their teen years to her early death in childbirth, as it is framed by the day to day events in their rural township.
George is played by William Jamieson with a consistent and appealing, almost idealized eagerness. This is clearly a boy any family would be pleased to find next door.
Elizabeth Meenan, as Emily, is one of the bright lights in this production. To the qualities of pertness and innocence that Emily must have, Meenan adds a skill at subtly delineating girlish moods and mature feelings. Her soda shop scene with George reveals how effectively small touches may bring to life a stage personality.
Mark Curtis also brings a sense of dimension and shading to the role of Emily's father. Like Meenan, Curtis has a way of pulling the watcher's attention to his character without drawing attention to himself as an actor. Richard Brauer, in the part of Emily's younger brother Wally and in a couple of less prominent roles, displays natural talent and a good feel for his material.
It can come as a surprise to realize that three highly visible secondary roles are all played by one actor, Roger Bell. While not everyone will agree with his broad portrayals of Howie Newsome, Professor Willard and Joe Stodard, he makes them clearly distinct from one another.
While the occasional case of wandering accent does crop up, the acting of the 15-member cast is generally competent and clear.
For all its concern with the ordinary doings of these characters, ``Our Town'' must find both its heartwarming and its tragic effects in a subtly structured but absolutely clear dramatic intensity.
The balancing act that must be struck, between a mundane relation of everyday events on the one hand and a stylized presentation of the heightened reality of the stage on the other, demands exceptional skill.
This production impresses one with the placid depiction of the daily round in Grover's Corners, but it somehow doesn't demonstrate the power to grip its audience and forcefully to compel attention and interest.
This is not to say that there is not plenty here that is charming. These are all eminently likable characters, and the story of young love has its predictable appeal. So does the description of life in small town America before World War I. Plenty of people will leave this production feeling warm and entertained, and that is no small accomplishment. ILLUSTRATION: WHEN AND WHERE
WHAT: ``Our Town,'' by Thornton Wilder
WHEN: 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Sept. 29, 30, Oct. 7, 8, 13
and 14; 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 and 8.
WHERE: Little Theatre of Virginia Beach
TICKETS: 428-9233.
by CNB