Road Trip to "Our Town"

At last...I can tell you about our weekend! Tom and I both took a vacation day on Friday. After sleeping in a bit later than usual, we loaded up the car, picked up Brianna after her morning class and immediately hit the road. We were bound for South Carolina to see our boy!

Though we never need a special reason to go and visit Brennan, this time we had one. He and his classmates were performing “Our Town,” by Thornton Wilder. Until seeing the play, I was largely unfamiliar with the story, but it has quickly become one of my favorites. Set in a small New Hampshire town called Grover’s Corner just after the turn of the century, it follows the joys, struggles and heartbreaks of everyday life among its residents. Brianna described it as having the feel of a Norman Rockwell painting and I have to agree. While there are a number of distinct characters, the story centers mainly around the families of Emily Webb and George Gibbs. It follows their childhood, their courtship, their marriage and beyond. Brennan played the part of the stage manager, who introduces each scene and helps tell the story. In addition, throughout the play, he assumes various additional roles in several scenes that are portrayed.

The message of the play is lingering and unmistakable…to cherish every day of your life and live it to its fullest. This particular adaptation utilized scripture to drive home that point. As the lights went down in the theater and the play was about to begin, these words appear on the background of the darkened stage…

…For what is your life? It is even a vapor
that appears for a little time
and then vanishes away. (James 4:14)

followed by…

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
(Psalm 90:12)

This beautiful play takes you through a range of emotions, from pure delight to heartbreaking sadness. Every member of the cast did an amazing job! Though we had come to see Brennan, we know and love all these kids and we were so proud of all their hard work. Under the skillful direction of Nicole Stratton, it was extremely well-done, but also deeply affecting, challenging and convicting. I’m so thankful we had the opportunity to see it.

We made only two brief stops on the 6 hour drive in the hopes of making it in time for the full performance Friday night. Everything went smoothly and we arrived with more than an hour to spare! (Thank you Lord!) That meant having the opportunity to go backstage and see Brennan and a number of other cast members beforehand and of course, take a few photos…


When Breezy saw Brennan in his stage makeup, with aged face and eyes, and glasses down on his nose, she said (with the sweetest smile), "I’m looking at my future." (Awww!)

Gotta run for now...I'll share the rest of the photos tomorrow. Hope you can stop back!