Wright State Theatre opens new season with Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town’

Wright State University Theatre will open its 2024–25 season with “Our Town” from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6 in the Festival Playhouse in the Creative Arts Center. (Photos by Erin Pence)

Wright State University Theatre will open its 2024–25 season with “Our Town,” a deeply moving and thought-provoking drama by Thornton Wilder, from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6.

Performances are Sept. 27, 28, Oct. 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 29, Oct. 5 and 6 at 2 p.m. in the Festival Playhouse in the Creative Arts Center.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and $15 for students, faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased at the Creative Arts Center box office between noon and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or at wrightliberalarts.universitytickets.com.

Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, which is in its sixth Broadway run, envelops audiences in the places and faces of Grover’s Corners, holding up a mirror to all of humanity.

Set in a small town during the early 20th century, the play follows two neighboring families, the Webbs and the Gibbses, over 12 years. The main plot centers on George Gibbs and Emily Webb, who spark a childhood friendship that evolves into a romance and then marriage. Wilder uses their story to show how the fleeting nature of life makes it so bittersweet.

“Our Town” is directed by Marya Spring Cordes, associate chair of the School of Fine and Performing Arts and artistic director of Wright State Theatre. Cordes was excited to take on the challenge of honoring a play that has stood the test of time by staging it traditionally.

“Our Town” features scenic design by student scenic designer Callie Lippencott, costume design by guest designer Ori Rancor, lighting design by student lighting designer Zachary Wuest, sound design by resident sound designer James Dunlap and dialect work by Deborah Thomas, professor of theatre.

On the stage, “Our Town” features Joclyn Blake, James Newton, Eve Diamond, Gavin O’Meara, Elisa Pacheco, Anna Parsons, Aidan Fracker, Emma Massey, Dom Cullen, Kathleen Barth, Paige Purcell, Jackson Church, Katie Baldwin, Ethan Cain, Kayleigh Gleeson, Meghan Hohman, Kayleigh Gleeson, Amirah Musa, Alexis Wentworth, Eamon Mitchell, Shay Roth and Atlas Kessinger.

2024–25 theatre season continues

Next up in Wright State Theatre’s season is “Carrie: The Musical,” which will run Oct. 31 to Nov. 17 in the Festival Playhouse. The season also includes: