“Our Town”
Written by Thornton Wilder
Showing: Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Ave., through June 8
Tickets: $20
Contact: (773) 472-7352; the-hypocrites.com

By Web Behrens

Contributing writer

Everybody knows “Our Town”—and not, sadly, because it’s a justly lauded American classic. Some of us had to read it in high school, when we were way too naïve and self-involved to appreciate its layered and mature themes. Others watched their fellow students perform it: Because Thorton Wilder’s stage directions eschew props and set (an innovative idea in 1938), it’s long been a favorite of cash-strapped after-school drama programs, however inappropriate the casting requirements for a gaggle of young actors.

Nonetheless, the play really is a gem, so it’s always a treat to find an open-eyed production like this one from the Hypocrites, currently running in the basement at the Chopin Theatre. Helmed by David Cromer, who also takes the key role of the omniscient Stage Manager, this particular “Town” clearly conveys the depth of Wilder’s wonderful script. Unfortunately, the awkward underground venue, combined with a staging that bisects the audience, often hampers Cromer’s vision. (If you attend, arrive early or you’ll get stuck seated behind a pillar.)

An everyman philosopher (and, it’s worth noting, a friend of Dorothy), Wilder, thrice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, blended an intellectual curiosity with quiet compassion over humanity’s endless struggle with the unfathomable cruelties of life. Ironic, then, that this play is too often produced like a treacly Hallmark made-for-TV movie. Alongside Wilder’s affection for turn-of-the-century small-town life in fictional Grovers Corners, Cromer and company don’t soft-pedal the darkness: Jonathan Mastro delivers an appropriately bitter Simon Stimson (the alcoholic choir director) but he doesn’t shoulder Wilder’s skepticism alone; as Dr. Gibbs, a man who seems to have everything, John Byrnes finds plenty of room for a nuanced portrayal of a dissatisfied, worried soul. Donna Fulks also ferrets out a full emotional life beneath the gossipy exterior of Mrs. Soames, while Rob Fagin perfectly finesses George’s youthful questioning, whether rapt in love or grief. And Cromer himself sets a perfect tone with his no-nonsense narrations, which even manage to by slyly comic without undermining the show’s sincere yearning.

Cromer’s most inspired directorial touch—although you might not think “Our Town” could ever be spoiled, the Hypocrites’ Act Three sequence really should be experienced fresh, so stop reading now if you hate spoilers—comes when the newly dead Emily revisits her 12th birthday. Cromer abandons the show’s signature no-frills staging, literally pulling back a curtain to reveal a full set of the Webb Family kitchen. Mrs. Webb even cooks real food, and these sights and smells comprise a brilliant theatrical metaphor for Emily’s spectral discovery: Only in death do we fully appreciate the simple gifts of everyday life.

This discovery, conversely, makes it such a shame that the company rushes through this key sequence. If the actors took a bit more time to fully immerse themselves in the flashback, we in the audience would feel Emily’s realization more keenly. And that, after all, is the play’s message: How life is both awful and wonderful, all at once.

(A tangential tip to Sidetrack denizens: You owe Wilder, a fellow friend of Dorothy, a different debt, considering that he also wrote a comedy, “The Matchmaker,” which later begat “Hello Dolly.”)