By Haneen Khatib/nw news editor
The NW drama department will present Our Town, a classic play written by Thornton Wilder, Dec. 7-11.
The play follows a couple through their journey from 1901-1913 and is about living life to the fullest and cherishing every moment.
“This play is an examination on the nature of life,” said Brent Alford, NW drama instructor and play director. “It’s a play about what we do with our lives with the time we have while we’re alive, how we take so much for granted and how we don’t cherish every single moment.”
Unlike other college plays, this production incorporates students from other schools.
“What makes this production unique for us is we’re part of an outreach and collaborative process where we’re co-producing this production with Northwest High School,” Alford said. “We have integrated seven Northwest High School students into production. I don’t think you will find that very often.”
Our Town is probably the most produced play ever written, Alford said.
“Although the play is set in 1901, 1907 and 1913, that is subordinate to what the play is about. It’s really not a period piece,” he said. “It deals with universal themes, and that’s why the play remains loved by so many people.”
The play takes place in a small town in New Hampshire and focuses on the couple and their families.
“We really follow the lives of two families that live next door to each other. The thread that runs through the whole thing is that the boy from one family falls in love with the girl in the other family, they get married and have kids,” Alford said.
Nick Kougias, who portrays the stage manager in the play, is also the head theater director at Northwest High School.
“My students are actually the students in the play, playing the leads of George and Emily,” he said.
Kougias said the production has been intense because his students are used to a six-week rehearsal rather than a four-week schedule, which is what they’re doing for Our Town.
Northwest High School student Tomlyn Borgan plays Emily.
“The role of Emily is to show the hope that she has and the devastation when she finds out that the world as she remembers it wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” she said. “They didn’t cherish each moment, which is the theme of the play.”
High school student Jordan Merseberger plays the role of George.
“He starts off as a big hotshot baseball player and gets knocked into shape by Emily,” he said.
George changes throughout the years in the play.
“He’s living life through the play. That’s George. He lives life,” Merseberger said.
Though the play is set in the 1900s, Alford is giving it a “fresh take on a traditional production.”
“We are not doing period costuming. We are setting the show in an environment where it’s actually here and now, 2011, in which this story is being told to us. It is up to the audience’s imagination to create the world of the play,” he said.
Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free for all TCC students, faculty and staff, $3 for other students and seniors and $6 for the general public.
For more information or to make reservations, call 817-515-7724.
“We expect to sell this show out. It’s going to be difficult to get tickets to this show, so everyone should make reservations and see it,” Kougias said.
