Our Town

Having two of our favorite TV moms--Sada Thompson of Family and Barbara Bel Geddes of Dallas--in the roles of Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb was inspired casting. Charlotte Rae is adorable as the scatterbrained Mrs. Soames, and Robby Benson as George is appropriately naive and cute. The third act, where Emily returns briefly to life after dying in childbirth, must be difficult to perform convincingly, but Glynnis O'Connor beautifully conveys the many levels of emotion and meaning in this segment of the play.

This was intended as the "definitive" version of Our Town, and it could have been that. But the stylized stage sets are really hokey, and Hal Holbrook may be just a bit too "folksy" in his interpretation of the Stage Manager role (compared to Spalding Gray's more subdued performance in the 1989 version).

I love this play--and I like this version of it despite its flaws.