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Sterling College Theatre presents ‘Our Town’ play decades later
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Sterling College Theatre presented “Our Town” not only at the College but for one night only in Great Bend in the fall of 1939. Here six cast members are pictured outside Spencer Hall. (Notice the spire of Cooper Hall in the background.) The 1939 production was just one year after “Our Town” premiered and won the Pulitzer Prize.

STERLING — When “Our Town” was first performed at Sterling College in the fall of 1939, the play was barely a year removed from its Broadway premiere and Pulitzer Prize win. More than two decades later, the college returned to Thornton Wilder’s timeless work in 1960. Now, nearly nine decades after that first Sterling production, the play comes home once again.

Sterling College Theatre will present a new production of “Our Town” at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 26-27, with additional performances at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. All performances will take place in Culbertson Auditorium.

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Sterling College students Cristian Vargiu, Claire Norris, and Chandler Reiman rehearse the Soda Fountain scene in “Our Town,” in which characters George Gibbs and Emily Webb meet while the Stage Manger becomes the Soda Fountain proprietor in the scene. The show will be presented by Sterling College Theatre on Feb. 26-28.

This year’s production is directed by Sterling College theatre faculty member Lesa Brown, who brings a personal connection to Sterling’s historic 1939 production. Her husband’s great-uncle, Ralph Gilmore, portrayed George Gibbs in Sterling’s 1939 production while a freshman at the college.

“The more I dig into the layers of this play, the more I see the genius of Wilder’s writing,” Brown said. “He offers an insightful commentary on what it means to be human—its joys, its sorrows, and its meaning—done with warmth and gentleness.”

Although set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, “Our Town” was never meant to represent a single place or culture. Wilder himself wrote, “I chose the village of Grover’s Corners because it seemed to me to be a place that could be anywhere, at any time,” adding that the play is “not a picture of New England life; it is a picture of the life of man.”

Brown sees those themes aligning naturally with Sterling College’s mission. “This play allows us to explore ideas of community, love, marriage, death, and eternity,” she said. “It’s the kind of art that invites discussion, discernment, and grace within a Christian liberal arts context.”

In staging the production, Brown chose to approach the play as an ensemble of modern actors telling a timeless story rather than pursuing strict historical realism. That choice, she said, honors Wilder’s intentions while allowing the company to focus on the play’s ideas and spirit rather than period detail or regional dialects. 

The universality of the play will be notably apparent in one of the central roles of George Gibbs which will be played by Sterling freshman Cristian Vargiu who is from Northern London and has a distinct “Cockney” British accent. “Though Cristian has never been in a play before and he obviously hails from another country, he brings an energy with a great deal of charm and spark which are so important to George,” Brown said. 

One line from Emily Webb has remained central to the rehearsal process: “We don’t have time to look at one another.” Brown hopes the production encourages audiences to do just that—to slow down, truly see one another, and rediscover the beauty of ordinary life.

Advance tickets for “Our Town” are available online at www.sterling.edu/arts and are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets will also be available at the door before each performance.