Broadway has just welcomed a new Our Town! Directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, this production marks the fifth Broadway revival of the classic play.
Our Town premiered at the Henry Miller’s Theatre on February 4, 1938 and has since become one of the highest regarded American plays ever written. Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) won a Pulitzer Prize for the play in 1938.
The concept is simple- Our Town revolves around the everyday lives of a town’s residents, focusing on themes of life, love, marriage, death, and the passage of time. At the center of the story, as the play’s title implies, is the town itself- Grover’s Corners. The setting is described in full by the Stage Manager, who acts a narrator, throughout all three acts. Jim Parsons paints the picture in this revival:
Up here is Main Street. Way back there is the railway station; tracks go that way. Polish Town’s across the tracks, and some Canuck families. Over there is the Congregational Church; across the street’s the Presbyterian. Methodist and Unitarian are over there. Baptist is down in the holla’ by the river. Catholic Church is over beyond the tracks. Here’s the Town Hall and Post Office combined; jail’s in the basement. William Jennings Bryan once made a speech from these very steps here. Along here’s a row of stores. Hitching posts and horse blocks in front of them. First automobile’s going to come along in about five years – belonged to Banker Cartwright, our richest citizen… lives in the big white house up on the hill.
-Our Town, Act 1
The monologue goes on to describe points of interest of any idyllic hamlet in small-town America- a grocery store, school yard, gardens, and of course, a cemetery. Wilder’s description of the place isn’t all vague, but also quite specific:
The name of the town is Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire – just across the Massachusetts line: latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes; longitude 70 degrees 37 minutes.
Wilder might have written about what would become one of the most famous small towns described in literature, but in fact, fans of the play will never be able to visit Grover’s Corners because it is entirely fictional. The setting is however believed to be inspired by the very real town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, which shares almost the exact same coordiadiates as specified by Wilder in the play. Wilder also coincidenty spent his summers there.
The town, nestled in the Monadnock Region along the Contoocook River has a population of about 6500. Today it attracts antique-lovers, artists, and people looking for a New England-esque outdoors escape. The town’s official website describes the destination as: A Good Town to Live In.
The Broadway cast knows of Peterborough’s charms firsthand, as they traveled together for a cast field trip at the start of rehearsals.
Whether you’re an Our Town stan or just looking for a quaint New England getaway, Peterborough is about a 5 hour drive from New York City or a 1.5 hour drive from Boston. You can learn more about the town at: peterboroughnh.gov
