Our Town is currently playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, starring four-time Emmy Award winner Jim Parsons, alongside well-known actresses Katie Holmes and Zoey Deutch. The show opened on September 17th, and the critics have a lot to say!

Set in the fictional town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, Our Town is famed for its universal relevance and its celebration of what it means to be human, from the exciting to the mundane. Although set over a century ago, its tenet remains just as relevant to our lives today.

Reviews 

Variety

"it succeeds because it captures the most magnificent part of the human experiencelife itself. Its outstanding performances and minimalistic set design by Beowulf Boritt highlight the brevity and magic of being alive." 

"it captures the most magnificent part of the human experience"

TheatreMania

"Jim Parsons, playing the philosophizing Stage Manager with a cheery wistfulness, breaks the fourth wall to introduce the denizens of Grover's Corners, who may appear a little differently than you remember." 

"enduring classic"

"What makes this play an enduring classic isn't dramatic tension but its gentle meditations on existence, mortality, and the passage of time." 

TimeOut

"Tears were streaming down my face for much of the last half hour of this revival; perhaps you will feel the same way. But while we in the audience might weep, Wilder's view, though always sympathetic, stays clear and dry. He has an eye on the eternal."

"Tears were streaming down my face"

Entertainment

"The most winning aspect of Wilder's play is its warmth. Leon preserves this, as do his actors. Zoey Deutch, making her Broadway debut, is as instantly likable as ever."

New York Theatre Guide

"With a star-studded cast featuring actors of all races, ages, and abilities, the fictional town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, comes to life in an evocative way. Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon's vision for the play is to emphasize how human trials and tribulations are universal, no matter the time period or walk of life." 

"With a star-studded cast featuring actors of all races, ages, and abilities"

What Is The Story?

Central to the story are characters, George and Emily, who grow up and get married before the audience's eyes. Revisiting the town's inhabitants over three periods, the play also uses meta-theatre to tell the tale, and that's where The Stage Manager steps in to oversee, fill in and engage with the audience. As the townsfolk get on with the day-to-day of their lives, The Stage Manager frequently interrupts the action to report to the crowd and even field questions from "audience members". As the years pass for the characters, daily life soon turns into a poignant mediation on love and marriage, death, and eternity.