Thornton Wilder is one of the most noteworthy playwrights our country has produced, and “Our Town” earned him his first Pulitzer Prize for Drama. As such, it is, for aficionados of the theater (and, indeed, for any self-respecting American), definitely a “must-see,” just as “The Decalogue” is a “must-see” for film enthusiasts. Like that ten-hour-long movie, “Our Town” isn’t always viewer-friendly. It creeps along at as slow a pace as the town it depicts. Settling down into my seat in the agreeable Actors’ Gang Theater, I was intrigued by a pervasive smell of coffee. Why would anyone find it necessary to brew such quantities of expresso during a play, I wondered. By the end of the second act the reason had become apparent. “Our Town” has the somnolent qualities of a lethargic European arthouse film, and the fact that it was written 70 years ago doesn’t help to make it more accessible to today’s audiences. For those willing to have their patience tried a little, however, the rewards this show offers are many and profound.

On its surface, this play is a vignette of small-town America circa 1900. The population of Grover’s Corners is an insular one: no one ever leaves it, not to attend college, not to realize one’s life-long dream of seeing Paris, not for anything. This is a town so obsessed with the commonplace, the unexceptional, that it drives the only resident with the potential for artistic genius to drink, and finally to suicide. It will be another twenty years before women get the right to vote, and gender discrimination can still be evidenced in this society. The men mostly sit around chillaxin,’ while the women are mostly shown to be engaged in some kind of housework or other.

At its core, however, “Our Town” is not about sexual discrimination, or alcoholism, or unrealized dreams. Ultimately, Wilder’s play is about people. The people in our lives are what really matter – our family, our friends, our neighbors. The show’s bare set is therefore very apt, because it’s not the set that matters, it’s the actors.

I was quite awed by the diverse talents exhibited by the cast of “Our Town” -several of the actors were skilled mimes and acrobats as well! All the performances were unfailingly strong, but as Emily Webb, Vanessa Mizzone’s sincere and heartfelt performance was perhaps the most memorable of the evening.

Emily is the focus of the play, and the epiphany she has towards the end is its “lesson.” After her own death during childbirth, Emily examines the living from a new perspective, and realizes that though she may have been placed in a coffin, they are, in fact, the ones who are “shut up in little boxes,” because of their blindness to the miracle of life, and the beauty inherent in the tiniest everyday events. When Mizzone broke into tears upon this realization, a lump came into my own throat, as I suddenly saw with poignant clarity how blind I have been to all the joys in my own life. This was certainly the most intense moment of the show, and Mizzone’s heartrending performance did full justice to Wilder’s masterly writing.

Justin Zsebe’s adroit and subtle direction gives the audience a deeper insight into this thought-provoking play. Will Pellegrini’s creative yet minimalist set design also provides the attentive audience member many non-verbal clues to the play’s underlying themes. What Pellegrini does with the graveyard in Act III is nothing short of inspired. The dead population of Grover’s Corners are all suspended on swings, to symbolize their state of limbo – they are not yet in heaven, but their feet have already left the ground.

This show is perhaps not the best The Actors’ Gang theater has ever produced, but audiences can be assured that the shows they do there never veer too far south of brilliant. “Our Town” is undeniably a great way for discerning theater-goers to brush up on their Thornton Wilder.

“Our Town” runs May 2 – June 6

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays @ 8 pm

Sunday matinees @ 2 pm

The Actors’ Gang at the Ivy Substation

9070 Venice Blvd. (corner of Culver and Venice Blvds)

Culver City, CA 90232

Ticket prices are $25 general, $20 for students and seniors

(All Thursday night performances are pay-what-you-can at the door)

For tickets call (310) 838-4264 or online @ www.theactorsgang.com