OUR TOWN UNIT

OUR TOWN FAST FACTS INFORMATION SHEET

PLAY FACTS

• Fictional American small town of Grover’s Corners

• Story takes place between 1901 and 1913
• Presents ordinary people in an ordinary life
• Genre is hard to define—the play offers both comedy and drama
• Style was innovative and experimental for the time
○ Minimalist set, no scenery or props
○ Stage Manager character speaks directly to the audience

THORNTON WILDER FACTS

• Thornton Wilder was born 1897

• Grew up in Hong Kong and China
• Wrote screenplays for silent films
• Won three Pulitzer prizes in his life
• Also wrote The Skin of Our Teeth

PRODUCTION FACTS

• Thornton Wilder began writing the play in 1936.

• First produced and published in 1938
• The first production took place as a one-night event at the McCarter Theater
Princeton, NJ and then played in Boston.
• The play was not successful in Boston, horrible reviews
• Moved on to New York, playing in first the Henry Miller Theatre and then the
Morosco Theatre
• Ran for 336 performances on Broadway
• Received the 1938 Pulitzer Prize.
• In 1946, play is banned in east Berlin for being too “depressing” and because it
could “inspire a German suicide wave.” Christian Science Monitor, Feb 13, 1946, p.
13
• In 1955, there was a TV musical version with Frank Sinatra.
• 1988 marked the 50th anniversary of the play production on Broadway.
• In the last decade there have been over 4,000 productions.
• The Stage Manager character has been played by Paul Newman, Helen Hunt, Henry
Fonda, Hal Holbrook, Spalding Gray, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Thornton Wilder
himself.
 OUR TOWN UNIT
OUR TOWN RESEARCH SHEET
Group Members:
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Research Question:
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Research your question and make a point form list of information. Cite your sources.

Information Sources
 OUR TOWN UNIT
OUR TOWN RESEARCH SHEET