Stage manager - Richard

Sam Craig - Kyaw 9 Act III

Joe Stoddard- Richard 

Mrs. Gibbs - Joanna During the intermission the audience has seen the stagehands
arranging the stage. On the right-hand side, a little right of the
Simon Stimsom - Kye center, ten or twelve ordinary chairs have been placed in three

Emily - Kye  openly spaced rows facing the audience.

These are graves in the cemetery.

The Dead- Kyaw 9 Toward the end of the intermission the ACTORS enter and
take their places. The front row contains: toward the center of
the stage, an empty chair; then MRS. GIBBS; SIMON STIMSON.
The second row contains, among others, MRS. SOAMES.
The t.hdrd row has HT'ALLY WEBB.
The d:ad do not ;~rn their heads or their eyes to right or ]
left, but they sit in a quiet without stiffness. When they speak
their tone is matter-oj-fact, without sentimentality and, above
all, without lugubriousness.
The STAGE MANAGER takes his accustomed place and waits
for the house lights to go down.

STAGE MANAGER:

This time. nine years have gone by,friends-summer,

~ . 1913 .
86 ~ Our Town Act III ~ 87

Gradual changes in Grover's Corners. Horses are getting rarer. around there laughing at the funny words on the tombstones
... it don't do any harm. And genealogists come up from
Farmers coming into town in Fords.
Boston-get paid by city people for looking up their ancestors.
Everybody locks their house doors now at night. Ain't been They want to make· sure they're Daughters of the American
any burglars in town yet, but everybody's heard about 'em. Revolution and of the Mayflower. . .. Well, I guess that don't do
any harm, either. Wherever you come near the human race,
You'd be surprised, though-on the whole, things don't
there's layers and layers of nonsense ....
change much around here.
Over there are some Civil War veterans. Iron flags on their
This is certainly an important part of Grover's Corners. It's on
graves ... New Hampshire boys ... had a notion that the '
a hilltop-a windy hilltop-lots of sky, lots of clouds,-often
Union ought to be kept together, though they'd never seen
lots of sun and moon and stars.
more than fifty miles of it themselves. All they knew was the
You come up here, on a fine afternoon and you can see range name, friends-tpe United States of America. The United
on range of hills-awful blue they are~up there by Lake States of America. And they went and died about it.
Sunapee and Lake Winnipesaukee ... and way up, if you've got
This here is the new part of the cemetery. Here's your friend
a glass, you can see the VVhite Mountains and Mt. Washing-
Mrs. Gibbs. 'N let me see-Here's Mr. Stimson, organist at the
ton-where North Conway and Conway is. And, of course, our
Congregational Church. And Mrs. Soames who enjoyed the
favorite mountain, Mt. Monadnock, 's right here-and all these
wedding so-you remember? Oh, and a lot of others. And Edi- \
towns that lie around it: Jaffrey, 'n East Jaffrey, 'n Peterbor-
tor Webb's boy, Wallace, whose appendix burst while he was on
ough, 'n Dublin; aJ1d a Boy Scout trip to Crawford Notch.
Then pointing down in the audience.
Yes, an awful lot of sorrow has sort of quieted down up here.
there, quite a ways down, is Grover's Corners.
People just wild with grief have brought their relatives up to
Yes, beautiful spot up here. Mountain laurel and li-Iacks. I often this hill. We all know how it is ... and then time ... and
wonder why people like to be buried in Woodlawn and Brooklyn sunny days ... and rainy days. .. 'n snow ... We're all glad
when they might pass the same time up here in New Hampshire. they're in a beautiful place and we're coming up here our-
selves when our fit's over.
Over there-
Now there are some things we all know, but we don't take'm
Pointing to stage left.
out and look at'm very often. We all know that something is
are the old stones,-1670, 1680. Strong-minded people that eternal. Arid it ain't houses and it ain't names, and it ain't earth,
come a long way to be independent. Summer people walk and it ain't even the stars ... everybody knows in their bones
 88 ---'<\V- Our Town
Act III ---'<\V- 89

that something is eternal, and that something has to do with JOE STODDARD has hovered about in the background. SAM
human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been CRAIG enters left) wiping his forehead from the exertion. He
telling us that for five thousand years and yet you'd be surprised
carries an umbrella and strolls front.
how people are always losing hold of it. There's something way
down deep that's eternal about every human being. SAM CRAIG:

Good afternoon, Joe Stoddard.

Pause.

'\ ~u know as well as I do that the dead don't stay interested in JOE STODDARD:

us living people for very long. Gradually, gradually, they lose Good afternoon, good afternoon. Let me see now: do I know
you?
hold of the earth ... and the ambitions they had ... and the
pleasures they had ... and the things they suffered ... and the SAM CRAIG:
people they loved. I'm Sam Craig.
TI:.eYj'iet weaned away from earth-that's the way I_put it,-
JOE STODDARD:
weaned away.
Gracious salces' alive! Of all people! I should'a IG10wedyou'd
And they stay here while the earth part of 'em burns away, be back for the funeral. You've been away a long time, Sam.
burns out; and all that time they slowly get indifferent to
SAM CRAIG:
what's goin' on in Grover's Corners.
Yes, I've been away over twelve years. I'm in business out in
\ They're waitin'. They're waitin' for something that they feel is
Buffalo now, Joe. But I was in the East when I got news of my
, comin'. Something important, and great. Aren't they waitin'
cousin's death, so I thought I'd combine things a little and
, for the eternal part in them to come out clear?
come and see the old home. You look well.
Some of the things they're going to say maybe'll hurt your feel-
JOE STODDARD:
ings-but that's the way it is: mother'n daughter ... husband
'n wife ... enemy 'n enemy ... money 'n miser ... all those ter- Yes, yes, can't complain. Very sad, our journey today, Samuel.
I ribly important things kind of grow pale around here. And SAM CRAIG:
what's left when memory's gone, and your identity, Mrs. Smith? Yes.
He looks at the audience a minute) then turns to the stage. JOE STODDARD:

Well! There are some living people. There's Joe Stoddard, our Yes, yes. I always say I hate to supervise when a young person is
undertaker, supervising a new-made grave. And here comes a talcen. They'll be here in a few minutes now. I had to come here
Grover's Corners boy, that left town to go out West. early today-my son's supervisin' at the home.
90 ~ OurTown Act III ----=-- 91

SAM CRAIG: SAM CRAIG:

Reading stones. Doesn't sound like Aunt Julia. There aren't many of those
Hersey sisters left now. Let me see: where are ... I wanted to
Old Farmer McCarty, I used to do chores for him-after look at my father's and mother's ...
school. !Ie hadthelumba~o)
.JOE STODDARD:
.JOE STODDARD:
Over there with the Craigs ... Avenue F.
Yes, we brought Farmer McCarty here a number of years ago
SAM CRAIG:
now.
Reading Simon Stimson)s epitaph.
SAM CRAIG:

Staring at Mrs. Gibbs) knees. He was organist at church, wasn't he?-Hm, drank a lot, we
used to say.
Why, this is my Aunt Julia ... I'd forgotten that she'd ... of
.JOE STODDARD:
course, of course.
Nobody was supposed to know about it. He'd seen a peck of
.JOE STODDARD: trouble.
Yes, Doc Gibbs lost his wife two-three years ago ... about this
Behind his hand.
time. And today's another pretty bad blow for him, too.
Took his .own life, y' know?
MRS. GIBBS:

To Simon Stimson: in an even voice. SAM CRAIG:

Oh, did he?

That's my sister Carey's boy, Sam ... Sam Craig.
.JOE STODDARD:
SIMON STIMSON:
Hung himself in the attic. They tried to hush it up, but of
I'm always uncomfortable when they)re around.
course it got around. He chose his ownePJ~~aRll. You can
MRS. GIBBS: see it there. It ain't a verse exactly.
Simon. SAM CRAIG:

SAM CRAIG: Why, it's just some notes of music-what is it?

Do they choose their own verses much, Joe? .JOE STODDARD:

.JOE STODDARD: Oh, I wouldn't know. It was wrote up in the Boston papers
No ... not usual. Mostly the bereaved pick a verse. at the time.
92 --"'>.r- OUf Town Act III ---""'r- 93

SAM CRAIG: MRS. SOAMES:

Joe, what did she die of? A little surprised) but no emotion.
JOE STODDARD: Well, I declare! The road up here must have been awful muddy.
Who? What did she die of, Julia?
SAM CRAIG: MRS. GIBBS:

My cousin. In childbirth.
JOE STODDARD: MRS. SOAMES:

Oh, didn't you know? Had some trouble bringing a baby Childbirth.
into the world. 'Twas he~ second, thoug~. There's a little boy
'bout four years old. " ' , ' i , . Ii Almost with a laugh.

I'd forgotten all about that. My, wasn't life awful-

SAM CRAIG:

Opening his umbrella. With a sigh.

The grave's going to be over there? and wonderful.
JOE STODDARD: SIMON STIMSON:

Yes, there ain't much more room over here among the Gibb- With a sideways glance.
ses, so they're opening up a whole new Gibbs section over by
Wonderful, was it?
Avenue B. You'll excuse me now. I see they're comin'.
MRS. GIBBS:
From left to center, at the back of the stage) comes a
Simon! Now, remember!
procession. FOUR MEN carry a casket) invisible to us. All the
rest are under umbrellas. One can vaguely see: DR. GIBBS, MRS. SOAMES:

GEORGE, the WEBBS, etc. They gather about a grave in the I remember Emily's wedding. Wasn't it a lovely wedding! And
back center of the stage) a little to the left of center. I remember her reading the class poem at Graduation Exer-
cises. Emily was one of the brightest girls ever graduated from
MRS. SOAMES:
High School. I've heard Principal Wilkins say so time after time.
Who is it, Julia?
I called on them at their new farm, just before I died. Perfectly
MRS. GIBBS: beautiful farm.
Without raising her eyes.
A WOMAN FROM AMONG THE DEAD:

My daughter-in-law, Emily Webb. It's on the same road we lived on.

94 ---- Our Town Act III ---- 95

A MAN AMONG THE DEAD: EMILY:

Yepp, right smart farm. Hello.

They subside. The group by the grave starts singing ((Blessed With surprise.
Be the Tie That Binds. " It's raining.
A WOMAN AMONG THE DEAD:
Her eyes drift back to the funeral company.)
I always liked that hymn. I was hopin' they'd sing a hymn.
MRS. GIBBS:

Pause. !iu,clti.f!1!ll?~!I:~n:1!.P!~~r.~Jt,Q]!!3;1!':p.1!gtbe u'I'YAkre)J'!§· Yes ... They'll be gone soon, dear. Just rest yourself.\
)

She is wearing a white dress. Her hair is down her back and
EMILY:
tied by a white ribbon like a little girl. §..bE_C!!mes slowly,
It seems thousands and thousands of years since I ... Papa
gazing wonderingly at the dead, a little dazed.
.-_., " .". ~. \ :7 /:1/'. " ('d!"lJI,. : ., ~~!!!~Illbered that that was my favorite hymn. . ......
She stops halfway and smiles faintly. After looking at the .
Oh, I wish I'd been here a long time. I don't like being new)
mourners for a moment, ske .TIJalk.sslowlyJo the Eacant chair
here.-How do you do, IVlr. Stimson? "
beside Mrs. Gibbs and sits down.
--'--'--. .-- .
SIMON STIMSON:
EMILY:
How do you do, Emily.
To them all, quietly, smiling.
EMILY continues to look about her with a wondering smile)· as
Hello.
though to shut out from her mind the thought of the funeral
MRS. SOAMES: company she starts speaking to Mrs. Gibbs with a touch of
Hello, Emily. nervousness.

A MAN AMONG THE DEAD: EMILY:

Hello, M's Gibbs. Mother Gibbs, George and I have made that farm into just the
best place you ever saw. We thought of you all the time. We
EMILY:
wanted to show you the new barn and a great long ce-ment
(Warmly)
drinking fountain for the stock. We bought that out of the
Hello, Mother Gibbs. money you left: us.

MRS. GIBBS:

I did?
 96 ~ OurTown Act III ~ 97

EMILY: when does this feeling go away?-Of being ... one of them?
Don't you remember, Mother Gibbs-the legacy you left us? How long does it ... ?
Why, it was over three hundred and fifty dollars.
MRS. GIBBS:
MRS. GIBBS:
Sh! dear. Just wait and be patient.\
Yes, yes, Emily.
EMILY:
EMILY:
With a sigh.
Well, there's a patent device on the drinking fountain so that
it never overflows, Mother Gibbs, and it never sinks below a I know.-Look, they're finished. They're going.
certain mark they have there. It's fine.
MRS. GIBBS:

Her voice trails off and her eyes return to the funeral group. Sh-.
It won't be the same to George without me, but it's a lovely farm. The umbrellas leave the stage. DR. GIBBS has come over to his
Suddenly she looks directly at Mrs. Gibbs. wife)s grave and stands before it a moment. EMILY looks up at
his face. MRS. GIBBS does not raise her eyes.
Live people don't understand, do they?
EMILY:
MRS. GIBBS:
Look! Father Gibbs is bringing some of my flowers to you. He
No, dear-not very much.
looks just like George, doesn't he? Oh, Mother Gibbs, I never
EMILY: realized before how troubled and how ... how in the dark; live
'-c-
',I
I ~~ sort of shut ~_ iIl_Iittl--=_ b<:>~_~_~_~:l1.'t they? I feel as persons are. Look at him. I loved him so. From morning till
though I knew them last a thousand years ago ... My boy is night, that's all they are-troubled.
spending the day at Mrs. Carter's. J d<': "
DR. GIBBS goes of!
She sees MR. CARTER among the dead.
THE DEAD:
Oh, Mr. Carter, my little boy is spending the day at your house. Little cooler than it was.-Yes, that rain's cooled it off a little.
MR. CARTER:
Those northeast winds always do the same thing, don't they?
Is he? (~vu.;-4, if1I'. L""y.i) If it isn't a rain, it's a three-day blow.-

EMILY: A patient calm falls on the stage. The STAGE MANAGER

Yes, he loves it there.-Mother Gibbs, we have a Ford, too. appears at his proscenium pillar, smoking. EMILY sits up
Never gives any trouble. I don't drive, though. Mother Gibbs, abruptly with an idea.
 98 Our Town
Ac t I II --""r-- 99

EMILY:
THEY are silent. Her question turns to the stage manager.
But, Mother Gibbs, one can go back; one can go back there
again ... into living. I feel it. I know it. Why just then for a STAGE MANAGER:

moment I was thinking about ... about the farm ... and for You not only live it; but you watch yourselfliving it.)
a minute I was there, and my baby was on my lap as plain as
EMILY:
! day.
Yes?
MRS. GIBBS:
STAGE MANAGER:
Yes, of course you can.
And as you watch it, you see the thing that they-down there-\,
EMILY:
never know. You see the future. You know what's going to hap- i
I can go back there and live all those days over again ... why pen afterwards.
not?
EMILY:
MRS. GIBBS:
But is that-painful? Why?
All I can say is, Emily, ?()~::.
MRS. GIBBS:
EMILY:
That's not the only reason why you shouldn't do it, Emily\
She appeals u1'3ently to the stage manager.
When you've been here longer you'll see that our life here is to i
But it's true, isn't it? I can go and live ... back there ... again. forget all that, and think only of what's ahead, and be ready for !
what's ahead. When you've been here longer you'll understand. /
STAGE MANAGER:

Yes, some have tried-but they soon come back here. EMILY:

Softly.
MRS. GIBBS:

Don't do it, Emily. But, Mother Gibbs, how can I ever forget that life? It's all I
know. It's all I had.
MRS. SOAMES:

Emily, don't. It's not what you think it'd be. MRS. SOAMES:

Oh, Emily. It isn't wise. Really, it isn't.

EMILY:

But I won't live over a sad day. I'll choose a happy one-£!! EMILY:
choo~e the day I first knew that I loved George. Why should But it's a thing I must know for myself. _I'll choose a happy
that be painful? day, anyway.
 100 ~ OUf Town Act III -'"mr- 101

_
MRS. GIBBS: STAGE MANAGER:

No!-At least, choose an unimp_ortant

.._--_._-------_ .. _---- -- day. Choose the least Yes, it's 1899. This is fourteen years ago.
important day in your life. It will be important enough.
EMILY:

EMILY: Oh, that's the town I knew as a little girl. And, look, there's the
To herself old white fence that used to be around our house. Oh, I'd for-
Then it can't be since I was married; or since the baby was born. gotten that! Oh, I love it so! Are they inside?

STAGE MANAGER:
To the stage manager, eagerly.
Yes, your mother'll be coming downstairs in a minute to)
/ ( I can choose a birthday at least, can't I?-I choose my twelfth make breakfast. J
\\\ birthday.
EMILY:
STAGE MANAGER: Softly.
All right. February 11th, 1899. A Tuesday.-Do you want
anyspecial time of day?
STAGE MANAGER:
EMILY:

Oh, I want the whole day. And you remember: your father had been away for several
days; he came back on the early-morning train.
STAGE MANAGER:

We'll begin at dawn. You remember it had been snowing for EMILY:

several days; but it had stopped the night before, and they No ... ?
had begun clearing the roads. The sun's coming up. STAGE MANAGER:

EMILY: He'd been back to his college to make a speech-in western

With a cry; rising. New York, at Clinton. .

There's Main Street ... why, that's Mr. Morgar;t's drugstore EMILY:

before he changed it! ... And there's the livery stable. Look! There's Howie Newsome. There's our policeman. But
he's dead; he died.
The stage at no time in this act has been very dark; but now
the left half of the stage gradually becomes very bright-the The V~i[e.!.2iH..QYfIE
-..--'--
NEWSOME, CONSTABLE
--.._----. -
WARREN and JOE ---~-~.-----.-.--,'

brightness of a crisp winter morning. EMILY walks toward CROWELL, JR., are heard at the left f!ithe stage. EMILY listens
'-----.---..~ .. --...,------.----,~~.--.-".~ -~--.....
in delight.
--
"..,.-'".""~,.--..,,-..,.,....--~,.......... -

Main Street. ~--.--:-~

 102 ~ Our Town Act III ---"'>,,- 103

HOWIE NEWSOME: Good morning, Mr. Newsome. Whhhh-it's cold. ':

.._.
~--------.<-'''.---..

Whoa, Bessie!-Bessie! 'Morning, Bill.

HOWIE NEWSOME:
CONSTABLE WARREN:
Ten below by my barn,Mrs: Webb.
Morning, Howie.
MRS. WEBB:
HOWIE NEWSOME:
rhink" of it! ~eeJ?xourselfwrapped up:
You're up early. -.-- -,"', ."

She takes her bottles in) shuddering.

CONSTABLE WARREN:

Been rescuin' a party; darn near froze to death, down by Pol- EMILY:

ish Town thar. Got drunk and layout in the snowdrifts. With an effort.
Thought he was in bed when I shook'm.
Mama, I can't find my blue hair ribbon anywhere.
EMILY:
MRS. WEBB:
Why, there's Joe Crowell ....
Just open your eyes, dear, that's all. I laid it out for you spe-
JOE CROWELL:
cial-on the dresser, there. If it were a snake it would bite you.
Good morning, Mr. Warren. 'Morning, Howie.
EMILY:
MRS. WEBB has appeared in her kitchen) but EMILY does not Yes, yes ...
see her until she calls.
She puts her hand on her heart. MR. WEBB comes along Main
MRS. WEBB:
Street) where he meets CONSTABLE WARREN, Their movements
Chil-dren!Wally! Emily! ... Time to get up.
and voices are increasingly lively in the sharp air.
EMILY:
MR. WEBB:
Mama, I'm here! Oh! how young Mama looks! I didn't know
Good morning, Bill .
. . Mama was ever that young.
CONSTABLE WARREN:
MRS. WEBB:

You can come and dress by the kitchen fire, if you like; but Good morning, Mr. Webb. You're up early.
hurry. MR. WEBB:

HOWIE NEWSOME has entered along Main Street and brings Yes, just been back to myoId college in New York State.
the milk to Mrs. Webb)s door. Been any trouble here?
104 ~ Our Town
Act III ~ 105

CONSTABLE WARREN: MRS. WEBB:

Well, I was called up this mornin' to rescue a Polish fella- None that I noticed. Coffee's ready when you want it.
darn near froze to death he was.
He starts upstairs.
MR. WEBB:

We must get it in the paper. Charles! Don't forget, it's Emily's birthday. Did you rem em-
ber to get her something?
CONSTABLE WARREN:

'Twan't much. MR. WEBB:

Patting his pocket.

EMILY:
Whispers. Yes, I've got something here.

\Papa. Calling up the stairs. \ /

MR. WEBBshakes the snow off his feet and enters his house. i~e)!py.gi[I?Wht:.r.e '~.IDybi.r:Wd~y girl?
CONSTABLE WARREN goes off, right.
He goes off left. )V"\.J"kA:"'1
MR. WEBB:
MRS. WEBB:
Good morning, Mother.
Don't interrupt her now, Charles. You can see her at breakfast.
MRS. WEBB: She's slow enough as it is. Hurry up, children! It's seven
How did it go, Charles? o'clock. Now, I don't want to call you again.

MR. WEBB: EMILY:

Oh, fine, I guess. I told'm a few things.-Everything all right Softly) more in wonder th~n in.$rief. {
here? ./ rS 0'1 ':ffI....< ru-~.J .}'!1./.y'§ !
I can't bear it. They/{ so young and beautiful. Why did they
MRS. WEBB:
~~--------.--...,---- --
"-.~- .. ~.- _._.. --......... --,,-~~ .. ~..
ever ~'!.ve to get old? Mama, I'm here. I'm grown up. I love
-.-.-.-----.~~.-.-.~. --.. .,.
I
- " - - ~---~---. -,."-----------. -------.--.-.~-.---.
I
Yes--can't think of anything that's happened, special. Been you all, everything.-I can't look at everyt!ling hard enough. l
right cold. Howie Newsome says it's ,tefl b~lo)V ov<:;r to his barn.
t ...., I' _.'(. '-\ /\ '{.J'~':; j;-/.;'!,:" _!, .-,{J;<; ~"". "( She looks questioning;-:r~-;;iiii?:EiJ1E;;;:;;:;~~;:~-'''-'
MR. WEBB: suggesting: «Can Igo in?YY He nods briefly. She crosses to the
Yes, well, it's colder than that at Hamilton College. Students' inner door to the kitchen) left of her mother, and as though
ears are falling off. It ain't Christian.-Paper have any mis- entering the room) says) suggesting the voice of a girl of
takes in it? twelve:
 106 Our Town
Act III ~ 107

Good morning, Mama. EMILY:

With mounting ur;gency.

MRS. WEBB:

Crossing to embrace and kiss her; in her characteristic Oh, Mama, just look.at me one minute as though you really
"f!;,at;S~r-of1act manne,r. saw me. Mama, fourte~,? years have gone by. I'm dead.
Well, now, dear, a very happy birthday to my girl and many You're a grandmother, Mama. I married George Gibbs,
happy returns. There are some surprises waiting for you on the Mama. 'Y.ally's dead, too. Mama, his appendix burst on a
kitchen table. camping trip to North Conway. We felt just terrible about
it-don't you remember? But, just for a moment now we're
EMILY:
all together. Mama, just for a moment we're happy. Let)s look
Oh, Mama, you shouldn)t have.
at (me another.
{-She throws an anguished glance at the stage manager.
MRS. WEBB:
i
. I can't-I can't. That in the yellow paper is something I found in the attic
,-.
MRS. WEBB,
among your grandmother's things. You're old enough to
Facing the audience, over her stove. wear it now, and I thought you'd like it.

EMILY:
But birthday or no birthday, I want you to eat your breakfast
good and slow. I want you to grow up and ~_e .a.. .so()d stron,g And this is from you. Why, Mama, it's just lovely and it's just
.3!!1· "'(': \,; what I wanted. It's beautiful!

That in the blue paper is from your Aunt Carrie; and I reckon Sh~j!i.rt;gs}?~rar..1J1:S a.~ou.1J;.4her nz ot/2.e.r)s 1J.e.ck .. }Itr.MQT.HE.R
you can guess who brought the post-card album. I fo~d it ;;~es on w~tb_ ~er cf!.oking, (but is pleased.
on the doorstep when I brought in the milk-George GIbbs
MRS. WEBB:
must have come over in the cold pretty early ... right
Well, I hoped you'd like it. Hunted allover. Your Aunt Norah
nice of him.
couldn't find one in Concord, so I had to send all the way to
EMILY: Boston.
To herself.
Laughing.
. Oh, George! I'd forgotten that .... __
Wally has something for you, too. He made it at manual-!
MRS. WEBB: training class and he's very proud of it. Be sure you make a ",'. Ii)
Chew that bac.on _good and slow. It'll help keep you warm on ~...
big fuss about it.-Your father has a surprise for you, too;
a cold day. don't know what it is myself Sh-here he comes.
108 ~ Our Town Act III ---"«Y- 109

MR. WEBB: EMILY:

Offstage. I'm ready to go basIs..

'Where's my girl? Where's my birthday girl? §he returns to her chair.b.f:sidfi. Mr..~~gibbs.

EMILY: Pause.
In a loud voice to the stage manager.
MRS. GIBBS:

I can't. I can't go on. !tZ()~.s~gJ<!~t W~.g9.n'th,a:y~ til!!~.Jo Were you happy?

look at one another.
. ::.
----:=:~-::.'"':,::.~::-=-::::.--~-=.=:::.:'::.::.-~:..: :;:..:.....:.:.~'
EMILY:
She breaks down sobbing. No ... I should have listened to you. That's all human beings
The lights dim on the left half of the stage. MRS. WEBB are! Just blind people.
disappears. / MRS. GIBBS:

I didll't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. Look, it's clearing up. The stars are coming out.
Take me back-up the hill-to my grave. But first: Wait! One
EMILY:
more look.
Oh, Mr. Stimson, I should have listened to them.
Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners ...
SIMON STIMSON:
Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking ... and Mama's
With mounting violence; bitingly.
sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses
and hot bams ... and sleeping and waking up.eh? earth, Yes, now you know. Now you know! That's what it was to ~e
\ you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. ~V:~-' To ~ove about in a cloud of ignorance; !o go up and
down trampling on the feelings of those ... of those about you.
She looks toward the stage manager and asks abruptly,
To spend and waste time as though you had a million years. To
through her tears:
be always at the mercy of one self-centered passion, or another.
Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?- I Now
_,._ ." you
_.__ know-that's the happy existence you wanted to__go
..• 1
every, every minute? ?ack to. Ignorance and blindness.
STAGE MANAGER:
MRS. GIBBS:
No. Spiritedly.
Pause. Simon Stimson/that ain't the whole truth and you know it.;
._The saints and poets, maybe-they do some. Emily, look at that star. I forget its name .
llO ~ Our Town
Act III ~ III

A MAN AMONG THE DEAD:

A WOMAN AMONG THE DEAD:
.
My boy Joel was a sailor,- kn ew ' em all . He'd set on the
Goodness! That ain't no way to behave!
porch evenings and tell 'em all by name. Yes, sir, wonderful!
MRS. SOAMES:
ANOTHER MAN AMONG THE DEAD: He ought to be home.
A star's mighty good company.
EMILY:
A WOMAN AMONG THE DEAD: Mother Gibbs?
Yes. Yes, 'tis.
MRS. GIBBS:
SIMON STIMSON: Yes, Emily?
Here's one of them coming.
EMILY:

THE DEAD: . They don't understand, do ti1ey?

That's funny. 'Tain't no time for one of them to be here.-
MRS. GIBBS:
Goodness sakes.
No, dear. They don't understand.
EMILY:

Mother Gibbs, it's George. The STAGE MANAGER appears at the right) one hand on a
dark curtain which he slowly draws across the scene.
MRS. GIBBS:

Sh, dear. Just rest yourself. In the distance a clock is heard striking the hour very faintly.
STAGE MANAGER:
EMILY:
Most everybody's asleep in Grover's Corners. There are a few
It's George.
lights on: Shorty Hawkins, down at the depot, has just watched
GEORGE enters from t he 1eJ,/1t) an d slowly comes toward them. the Albany train go by. And at the livery stable somebody's set-
A MAN FROM AMONG THE DEAD: ting up late and talking.-Yes, it's clearing up. There are the
And m boy, Joel, who knew the stars-he used to say it took stars-doing their old, old crisscross journeys in the sky. Schol-
millionsy of years for tha.: spec k 0 'rght
1 to git to the earth. ars haven't settled the matter yet, but they seem to think there
Don't seem like a body could believe it, but that's what he are no living beings up there. Just chalk ... or fire. Only thi~
used to say-millions of years. one is straining away, straining away all the time to malce some-
thing of itself The strain's so bad that every sixteen hours
GEORGE sinks to his knees then falls full length at Emily)s feet. everybody lies down and gets a rest.
 THORNTON WILDER
112 ---- Our Town

He winds his watch.

Hm .... Eleven o'clock in Grover's Corners.-You get a
good rest, too. Good night.

THE END

Thornton Wildetj the only writer to win the Pulitzer Prize in

both fiction and drama, enjoyed a rare success in straddling
the 'worlds of literary sophistication and popular entertain-
ment. In a career spanning nearly five decades, Wilder
achieved tremendous acclaim for such modern classics as The
Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town but also endured signif-
icant setbacks and reversals, including vicious critical attacks
and the occasional failure at the box office, ~~v:er really in
fashion during his lifetime, always out of step with the issues
and fads of his, day, Wilder eludes "placement." He was
simultaneouslyl~n innovator. who set the
,--- \
.~-...
highest value
.
on
\

"the smallest events in our dailyHfe,"::'ahqptimist who pre-

sented a bleak vision of the afterlife, and an admirer of the
fragmented narratives of modernism who created highly
accessible, thematically unified fictions, Though a contempo-
rary charged him with being too effete and bloodless to be a
true American writer, Wilder is now widely recognized as just
that-a quintessentially American artist.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1897, Wilder grew up