Our Town
Rose Theatre, Kingston
Until March 28, 2026.
Set in the small fictional town of Grover’s Corners, this production of Our Town is an astounding new reimagining of the 1938 play written by Thornton Wilder. The all-Welsh cast delightfully capture the heart of this play almost a century after it was written, with the overarching sentiments of what life means to the living and the departed as true today as it was 88 years ago.
The play is written in 3 Acts, with Acts I & II running consecutively at 85 minutes prior to the interval and Act III following this for 35 minutes. Act I is focused on the Daily Life of the community, Act II is set a few years on from Act I and focused on the joining of the central Webb & Gibb families through Love and Marriage. Act III sees the story come full circle by observing Death & Eternity, with the unique perspective of the departed reflecting on their lives when they were living and how many small moments passed them by.
The audience is confidently guided through the story of Grover’s Corners and those living in it by the Stage Manager (Michael Sheen) who serves as both narrator and a father of time, breaking the fourth wall throughout the play by directly interacting with the audience. The play features several scenes where characters either appear in or walk through the audience, which really made you feel like you were a part of the community of this small town as its inhabitants walked amongst you.
There was a striking simplicity to the staging of this production and the use of multiple planks of wood which were creatively utilised throughout the first Act to set the scene of Grover’s Corners, its people and even its Churches. Later, in the play the planks transformed further to create a clock with the Stage Manager centred within the turns of time.
This is a very strong company created by the Welsh National Theatre and it was striking how well characters were cast that they were believable as families which made the story feel that much more real and relatable. There were moments in the play when the characters were singing for the Church Choir and the collective voice of the company, and their harmonies were simply beautiful creating very moving scenes.
It is remarkable how Our Town starts with the first Act seemingly being about nothing, just everyday life to Act III which brings it all together concluding that it is the very nothings, the everyday moments which are everything. The recently departed Emily Webb Yasemin Ozdemir was extraordinary in Act III. The anguish at her own passing in labour with her characters second child, to seeing the devastation of her husband’s grief at her passing was executed with such mastery that it left me leaving the theatre reflecting on my life and my ‘moments’. Which I think is an incredibly powerful take away and a lesson which enables this story to stand the test of time, many things may have changed in the past century. But it seems we as people not so much, Our Town captures this beautifully and this extraordinarily talented cast and production are not to be missed.
Our Town is playing at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until March 28, 2026.
Reviewer: Lisa Dawn