MovieChat Forums > Our Town (2003) Discussion > Hate the Play but love Paul...

Hate the Play but love Paul...

posted 18 years ago by ijonesiii
6 replies | jump to latest

I can't think of a play that bores me to death more than OUR TOWN, one of the dullest plays ever written. We read it in high school and I've seen a couple of poductions of it, but the appeal of this material escapes me. But I have to say this production is worth watching for one reasn and one reason only...the magical performanc of Paul Newman as the Stage Manager. He is just as mesmerizing onstage as he is onscreen and at 80 years old, the man still has the bluest eyes in Hollywood.

[–] pianopedagogy 15 years ago

I'm so sorry that you feel this way about this beautiful work. This play is about Life. The weave of life and the connections that bind us, meaningfully, to our family, our chosen spouses, our children, our history, and our future. It is one little microcosm of collective human experience, life to death. And the gentle, spiritual threads that are woven about us. Please, I would ask you, to try to read this again and to watch it with an open heart--because life's beauty, sadness, joy, and devastation is here. Along with the eventual peace that we will all achieve at some point. Look for beauty, look for truth and weight and not just for entertainment to save you from boredom. Thornton Wilder, who wrote this play, was not--by any means--a "lightweight". He was a keen observer of all that surrounded him and a wonderful translator of his experience to the page.

[–] rob-949 14 years ago

It's only one of the best plays ever written. You should really learn how to watch a play before you judge it. Yeah, the MTV generation isn't going to get it and will hate the pace, but this play has lots of things to say about life that are universally true.

[–] tommary1962 14 years ago

Absolutely true. But even older people do not get it. They are so used to being spoon fed they have no patience or intellect enough to WATCH and THINK about things. Which is why crap like CSI is so popular. Nothing to watch or think about...just a screen full of scenery and gadgets.

[–] stevenackerman69 14 years ago

I think the idea of the play is that at first you think it is sort of dumb with the way everyone talks, but you then see the deeper meanings as it goes along. Emily's speech near the end of the play about the Earth being too wonderful for anyone to realize it is pretty truthful. The whole sequence where Emily, who has died, goes back to her youth makes her realize what is going to happen to her parents and family and that moves her. But I guess it isn't for everyone.

[–] mariahfan-1 14 years ago

not All MTV generationers are board by this magnificent play. Myself for example though I've been a Theater Rat since the first time I saw the nutcracker at age 7 so I maybe a bit biased. and in the case of this particular production I've loved Paul Newman from the time I was a little girl. so obviously I'll stick up for anything he's done on stage or screen. but some people will never give him the credit he deserves for this production because it was executive produced by his wife who was co artistic director of The Westport Country Playhouse at the time and she'd been bugging him to do it for 5 years. but what made her finally decide to mount the production was the 9/11 attacks of 2001 so she figured it would be a comforting way to bring scared families together. mind you Joanne Woodward happened to be in New York doing work for the playhouse when the attacks happened and seeing that made her think she might never see Paul their daughters and grandchildren again so Our Town was a natural choice.

"why are you married to him then if you can't work with him how do you live with him?"

[–] 14 years ago

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