This timeless drama of life in the mythical village of Grover’s Corners, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town is an American classic. The Department of Theatre and Dance presents the play May 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 at 7 p.m. and May 25 at 2 p.m. in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall.  

Guided by a kindly Stage Manager, Our Town explores the relationship between two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, and then culminates in marriage. The circle of life portrayed in each of the three acts of Our Town–growing up, adulthood, and death–is fully realized. 

The production will be directed by Irish theatre director and acting teacher Sinéad Rushe who returns to UC Davis to collaborate with co-director Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, chair of theatre and dance. Rushe and Kemp’s previous project AntigoneNOW, produced online at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, was screened worldwide including an invited presentation at the Egypt International Experimental Theatre Festival. Rushe is the author of Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique: A Practitioner’s Guide, co-translator into French of four plays by Howard Barker and was senior lecturer in acting and movement at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In fall 2023 she becomes lead acting tutor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).  

Adult tickets are $15, faculty/staff tickets are $12, and student/senior tickets are $5. Tickets may be purchased at the UC Davis Ticket Office, located on the north side of Aggie Stadium, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, by phone 530-752-2471 during the same hours, or online at arts.ucdavis.edu/theatre-and-dance.

The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. For information about other department productions, visit theatredance.ucdavis.edu.