Our Town Summery

Our town is a play performed in three acts. Each act is labeled as a part of life, beginning with the age of youth in Act I. In this act we meet our primary characters, George Gibbs and Emily Webb. The story is told by a stage manager from the present age, who is constantly providing details that only someone who knew what was going to happen could provide. The other characters in this play have only one purpose, to set the mood of the scene. The stage, although seeming bare, is decorated with the elaborate words of the stage manager as he describes the small town of Grovers Corners as it was back in 1901. In Act I the stage manager tries to create a feel for the town. Pulling people from the towns history to recreate what a typical day in Grovers Corners would have been like. We focus on the young adults, Emily Webb and George Gibbs. Emily is a bright young girl who is clearly focused on school, while in comparison George Gibbs is seemingly more interested in baseball and the running of his uncles farm. George, apparently fond of Emily, contrives ways to be near Emily as much as he possibly can, creating a friendship that will later bloom into love. Act II focuses on the growing and learning aspect of life. Set three years into the future we overhear several of the towns people conversing about the upcoming wedding of George Gibbs and Emily Webb. The houses were in an uproar over the wedding, each one mourning the growing of their children. As the households bustled about, preparing for the wedding, the stage manager refocuses our attention to a turning point in George Gibbs and Emily Webbs lives. It was the end of a school day and George Gibbs was desperately trying to get Emily's attention. After much subtle avoiding from Emily, George's persistence wins out and she relents to let him walk her home. On their way home George confronts Emily on the fact that she has been avoiding him for several weeks, to which she confirms that she was indeed retracting from conversations. After she confessed that she had withdrawn because of his obsession with baseball, and lack of caring for anyone outside of his baseball life, he quickly took her words to heart. Reflecting upon her words he realized that he truly cared about her opinion, and her. Finally confronting his character flaw he quickly reevaluated his plans of going off to college. After a brief argument about his plans for the future, he tells Emily he wishes to spend the rest of his life in Grovers Corners, preferably with her. After she returns his expression of love the stage manager again redirects our attention to the wedding. It is set right before the wedding and both parties are have wedding day apprehensions. Each one afraid of growing up. After reassurance from their parents, they continued with the wedding without any physical appearance of doubts. Act II ends with the saying of I dos and commentary of a local lady as to the meaning of life. Act III is the manifestation of death. The scene opens in a graveyard, and the undertaker is preparing for the newest body. The stage manager informs us that nine years have passed and several of our loving characters have passed away. The undertaker begins conversing with a young man by the name of Sam Craig about the people who have recently passed in Grovers Corners. The most recent of which was a cousin, Emily. The play shifts to those who are dead. They are expecting the arrival of Emily any minute, and pass the time by talking about how she died. She had died giving birth to her second child. When Emily arrived she couldn't get passed the feeling of being dead. She couldn't deal with the fact that she could never get back the time she wasted. As her funeral proceeded she noticed small details that she had forgotten before. When it was over she asked Mrs. Gibbs if it was possible to live again at least for one day. Despite warnings from practically all of the dead she was insistent about returning for at least a day. She, however, did take their warning about not picking a monumental day in her life. She picked her eleventh birthday, starting the day off at dawn. The scene changes and she finds herself on main street at dawn. She sees all the people she knew as a child, some of them now deceased. When she makes it to her house the stage manager asks about certain things she might remember about the day.

Outline Introduction: Our Town is Act I Summery: Act II Summery: Act III Summery: Conclusion: