Gustavus Adolphus College has a flourishing theater department. Whether it be a sprawling drama or a lively musical, there is a performance for everyone to enjoy. Currently, students are hard at work putting the final pieces together for their production of Our Town, with Lillian Grim ‘25 and Gavia Yount ‘26 discussing their time on set and their respective roles.
Starting off with a basic overview of the play, Yount ‘26 described it by saying “Our Town is a play about the people of a small town in New Hampshire called Grover’s Corners. What starts as a simple illustration of a typical day in Grover’s Corners ends as a powerful reflection on how we can best live our lives and how we might regard the world and our place in it.”
“This is a three act play that follows the lives of primarily the Gibbs’ and the Webbs,’” added Grim ‘25. “It shows small town American life and the joys and sorrows that come along with it.”
Grim ‘25 is “the assistant director, so I basically assist Matt Trucano, the director, through scene work and some staging as well as being in charge of one of the scenes in this show. I attend a lot of meetings and take a lot of notes and discuss with Matt how we can make the show say what we want it to say. I also work with actors one on one.”
On the other hand, Yount ‘26 acts in the play as “Emily Webb, one of the citizens of Grover’s Corners.”
Rehearsals for Our Town have been quite extensive, given that the time span from casting to performances is right at two months, with the cast spending a lot of time together.
Speaking of their time on the set, Grim ‘25 said “it is good! Our actors get along super well and it is a very lively environment. Everyone is just getting along and having a good time and learning the parts.”
Yount ‘26 added “It’s been kind of a whirlwind, but also really fun. It has been kind of intense at times, especially when trying to transition between my life outside of the play and inside of the play, and it has gone by really fast, but it’s worth it to me both as a way to explore my own thinking, actions, and relationships with other people and to prepare to share a very impactful and meaningful story with the audience.”
There have been many opportunities for the cast to form connections and create long-lasting memories.
“Working together in rehearsals is amazing, but what’s even cooler is that we form close enough bonds that we find things to do with each other outside of rehearsal” said Yount ‘26. “We like to get together for dinner a lot, and we’ve even taken some time to share ideas with each other about each other‘s characters. I think that idea-sharing time is one of my favorite memories from the process.”
Through all of this, it should come as no surprise that the cast and crew have formed a close community. Grim ‘25 mentioned that “the actors are very tight knit and welcoming and through all the production meetings everyone is very open and kind. We have a group chat that is very lively and it is nice to see how much people like each other and get along and how genuine it is.”
Yount ‘26 echoed this, adding “we form close enough bonds with each other that we seek out opportunities to get together outside of rehearsal.”
Our Town has helped to create a space for everyone involved to find a safe space in each other and work to create an incredible production for people to come and see. As Yount ‘26 put it, “Come see Our Town! It really is a special play. I hope the audience enjoys it and comes away having learned something meaningful about Grover’s Corners and about themselves and their communities.”
The show opens on Thursday, November 7 at 8 p.m. at the Gardner Laboratory Theatre, with other evening performances being Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9 at 8 p.m. There will also be matinees on Saturday, November 9 at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 10 at 2 p.m..
Tickets are available at https://gustavustickets.universitytickets.com/.