I never read forwards in stories. At least, not before I read the book. If I really enjoyed the book, yes, I will go back an pour over every little detail (including the forward).
But today I finished reading Our Town by Thorton Wilder. The Harperperennial Modern Classics Edition. The play itself is 109 pages. Three acts. The forward and afterword are 83 pages. I did the math and was like, WHOA, that's like, 45 percent of the book. (I lied, I didn't do the math. But that's a relatively reasonable guess).
It's hard to recap the plot of this play, since there really isn't one. This play is about a small town (and as far as small towns go these days, I'm talking, like, ten times smaller than what you're probably imagining right now). The town is Grovers Corners, in New Hampshire, and it starts on May 7, 1901. The first act is "Daily Life". The second act is "Love and Marriage." The third act is "Death and Eternity." The main characters are the Webbs (Mrs. Webb, Mr. Webb, and Emily Webb), and the Gibbs (George Gibbs, Mrs. Gibbs, and Doctor Gibbs). And then there is the Stage Manger, who guides us through the town, makes observations, and talks to the audience (breaking the fourth wall).
I really did like this play. My favorite- personally, was the third act. It hit closest to home for me. Not just because my drama monologue was in it, but because it was so simply played out, but it was so affecting.
*NOTE: There are some spoiler alerts, but honestly this is a classic play and pretty much everyone knows how it ends, and it's not a paticurally suspenseful ending, and the way it's written and performed is much more affecting than the plot line itself. So at this point, if I were you, I wouldn't care about the ending being spoiled. But, none the less, SPOILER ALERT.*
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this play, this rather simply written, plot less, characters-with-hardly-any-personality play, is an allegory for life. I mean, it's printed on the back cover, for gods sakes. ("This Pulitzer Prize winning drama of life in the small village of Grover's Corners, an allegorical representation of all life, has become a classic".) Kind of puts the words into your mouth, huh? Anywho, yes. It broke down so many walls in theatre. (Not literally).
This play makes me think that perhaps keeping the plot and characters simple, but with scenes and moments that much of the audience will identify with their own life or feelings, will attach them more emotionally than anything else. Even if you live in a gigantic city, where you hardly know anybody (quite the opposite of Grovers Corners), you may be able to identify with some of the feelings towards love in act 2. Or perhaps you've wondered about life and death in some ways in act 3.
No one shall ever try to attempt Our Town.
