"Cliff Notes - Our Town" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

NOTE: PULLMAN CAR HIAWATHA Wilder's one-act play, Pullman Car Hiawatha, published in 1931, contains many similarities to Our Town. Like Our Town, the earlier play uses a Stage Manager to set the scene and chat with the audience about the action on stage. The title of Pullman Car Hiawatha, refers to a railroad sleeping car named after the legendary Onondaga Indian chief, Hiawatha. The train is on the New York to Chicago run and Wilder uses the train, its passengers, and the towns it passes through to represent the whole of the human experience, in much the same way he uses Grover's Corners in Our Town. In fact, one of the towns along the route is Grover's Corners, Ohio!

There is little scenery in Pullman Car Hiawatha; the Stage Manager draws outlines of the car and its compartments on the stage floor with chalk and passengers enter carrying their own chairs. The themes of time, size--from the tiniest town to the entire solar system--death, and repeating cycles of human activity are all found in this short play. You might want to read Pullman Car Hiawatha and compare Wilder's treatment of these themes to how he deals with them in Our Town.

After he finishes setting up, the Stage Manager leans against the wall at the side of the stage and watches the audience.

NOTE: In a famous speech in William Shakespeare's As You Like It, one of the characters says, "All the world's a stage,/And all the men and women merely players." Is the Stage Manager indicating to you that the same metaphor is being used here?

The house lights dim and the Stage Manager begins to speak. At this point, if you were in the audience and didn't know anything about the play, you might be a little confused. You probably would think that the man was just someone working in the theater, not part of the play. Then the first thing he tells you is what you probably just read in your program--who wrote the play, who directed it, who's playing what part. You aren't being allowed to forget that this is a play, not real life.

Then the Stage Manager takes you to Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, just before dawn on May 7, 1901. He describes the town, pointing to different parts of the stage. "Up here is Main Street.... Here's the Town Hall and Post Office combined...."

NOTE: Keep in mind that the Stage Manager is talking about a bare stage. You must picture the town for yourself. Wilder didn't want you to sit back passively to watch his play. He wanted you to fill in the setting by using your own imagination and experience. This is unusual in a twentieth-century play. But plays in ancient Greece were staged without scenery, and there were virtually no stage props around 1600, when Shakespeare wrote his great plays.

As he's describing the town, the Stage Manager says something odd: "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." Notice the way the verb tenses keep shifting. This is your first hint that something strange is happening with time in this play.

The Stage Manager continues to describe the town, pointing out Doc Gibbs's house, then Editor Webb's house, then the cemetery. Then juxtaposition of life and death is obviously important in the play. It's repeated almost immediately: the Stage Manager points out Doc Gibbs, coming on the stage. First he tells you that Doc Gibbs is just coming home from delivering twins, and then he tells you that Doc Gibbs died in 1930. He adds that Mrs. Gibbs died first, "long time ago, in fact." But you can see Mrs. Gibbs on stage. What time is it supposed to be, anyway? Is it 1901, or is it today? or is it both?

While the Stage Manager points out Doc Gibbs's house, the stagehands push a pair of trellises onto the stage. "For those who think they have to have scenery," the Stage Manager comments. It's a joke, but it's also a reminder of Wilder's theories about the theater.

You also hear a train whistle; the Stage Manager checks his watch and nods to the audience.

NOTE: ON SOUND Throughout Our Town there are stage directions for various sounds. One reason is that Wilder wants to encourage you to use your imagination while watching this play, and sound is a great trigger for imagination. Most people have heard a train whistle--though perhaps not as many now as in 1938--and hearing that sound calls up a response from your unique personal history. By forcing you to remember through the use of one of your senses, Wilder makes your involvement in the play that much greater.

Notice, however, that Wilder does not include stage directions for all the possible sounds in Grover's Corners. You might want to make one list of the sound effects called for in the script and another of the sound effects that could have been included but weren't. What conclusions can you draw from comparing the lists?

Before anything happens, before any of the characters actually say or do anything, the Stage Manager has talked for a long time. Why do you suppose this is so? He has set the stage for you and established a gentle, friendly tone for the play. But in most plays that is accomplished with the scenery. You can tell where you are and what kind of play this is going to be as soon as the curtain rises. What else is Wilder doing with the Stage Manager?

Finally, something happens. The earlybirds of the town appear--the newsboy and the milkman are starting their rounds and the doctor is finishing his. They stop for a brief exchange of gossip--the schoolteacher is getting married, the doctor just delivered twins, and the milkman's horse can't adapt to a change in route.

While this is going on, Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs are in their kitchens, pantomiming the preparations for breakfast. Remember that if you were seeing the play you'd be watching the pantomimes and listening to the conversation at the same time. Perhaps Wilder is pointing out that life doesn't happen in just one place at just one time.

NOTE: Pantomime can be a particularly effective stage technique. It draws an audience into the action and encourages observers to use their imaginations more actively. Try it for yourself. Take turns with friends miming some common activity. How do you feel as you watch? Do you pay more attention than you usually would? Do you notice things you would normally ignore?

Now it's breakfast time, and the children must prepare for school. Mrs. Gibbs is calling George and Rebecca; Mrs. Webb is calling Emily and Wally. The conversation may not sparkle but it probably sounds familiar to you. Mrs. Gibbs complains to her husband that George isn't helping with the chores. Mrs. Webb reminds Wally to wash thoroughly. Rebecca doesn't want to wear her blue gingham dress--that's the one she hates. George wants a raise in his allowance. Children are reminded to eat slowly, finish their breakfast, stand up straight, pick up their feet.

Does it sound familiar? Although the scene takes place at the start of the twentieth century, the conversation is almost timeless. Once upon a time there was probably a Neanderthal girl complaining that she didn't like her wolfskin robe and a Neanderthal mother telling her children to gnaw their bones slowly. And if you listen tomorrow morning, you may hear a small conversation in your own house. Did anyone ever tell you to come when called? Did anyone ever remind you to do your chores? To stand up straight? To finish your breakfast?

The next question, of course, is why did Wilder use such ordinary conversation for this scene? Does it help you identify with the characters? Even if it doesn't sound familiar, does it sound appealing? Would you like to grow up in a town like this, in a family like one of these?

Breakfast over, Mrs. Webb fills her apron and goes out to feed the chickens. Mrs. Webb goes out to sit in the garden while she strings her beans. Mrs. Gibbs comes over to share the task and to share her secret.

A secondhand furniture man from Boston has offered Mrs. Gibbs $350 for her old highboy (a chest of drawers on legs). This is an amazing windfall. Mrs. Webb thinks it's a wonderful chance, but Mrs. Gibbs isn't entirely sure she wants the money. The only thing she really wants is for her husband to accompany her on a trip to Paris. The problem is that she doesn't think he'll go. She's dropped a few hints about "if I got a legacy," but hasn't gotten anywhere. Dr. Gibbs says "it might make him discontented with Grover's Corners to be traipsin' about Europe." His idea of a perfect vacation is visiting Civil War battlefields.

Unfortunately for her, Mrs. Gibbs seems a bit tired of battlefields like Gettysburg and Antietam. Mrs. Webb urges her to sell the highboy and keep dropping hints. "That's how I got to see the Atlantic Ocean, y'know."

NOTE: ON HINTS AND WOMAN'S PLACE Mrs. Webb suggests that Mrs. Gibbs hint about what she wants her husband to know, and later you will see her do just that. Emily will also offer George hints. Other characters will also speak indirectly. Hinting is offering an idea in a gentle way, not forcing it upon a person. Why not come right out and say what's on your mind? Isn't Mrs. Gibbs missing an opportunity? In Act III, Emily sees the many ways we miss the chance to show our love for one another. Is hinting another way we miss the chance to say "I love you"? Or is it a way we avoid hurting people's feelings unnecessarily?

This scene also raises some questions about the role of women in Grover's Corners. At the turn of the century, women still couldn't vote and most didn't work outside the home. With the hindsight gained from the current feminist movement, you might see Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb as having little power or freedom to make their own decisions. How do you think Wilder felt about this? Is the playwright unconsciously reflecting the majority view of that time? Is he supporting it with an idealized picture of the mother as the loving and supportive center of the family? Or is he subtly criticizing the position in which society placed women? What evidence can you find in the play to support your view?