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emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In the small town of Grover's Corner, NH, we get three acts showing various parts of local citizens' lives. I suppose the girl Emily is as central as any character; the three acts show her life at three progressive points in time.
Part of the surprise of this play is when these scenes take place; another part is how banal the play's action is. It moves effortlessly through time without a strong sense of being fixed anywhere. Indeed, a character called the Stage Manager has long monologues and very frequently acts as the play's narrator. The town itself has a sleepy feel to it; it effectively captures an everyone-knows-everyone feel of a small town. There's a kindness and optimism to the town, like a Twin Peaks refusing to show us its underbelly. For me, what impressed me most is how moving the play is and how engaged I was in reading it. I couldn't tell you much about any single character, and I can't say anything about the play's action, but the It's a Wonderful Life narration has excellent tone to it (the play's forward, which is best left until after reading the play, says the Frank Capra movie draws lots of inspiration from this play). The narration feels earnestly folksy and slightly overconfident, like a parent talking down to a child, and is one of the main joys of this insightful play about the broad strokes of human life.
Part of the surprise of this play is when these scenes take place; another part is how banal the play's action is. It moves effortlessly through time without a strong sense of being fixed anywhere. Indeed, a character called the Stage Manager has long monologues and very frequently acts as the play's narrator. The town itself has a sleepy feel to it; it effectively captures an everyone-knows-everyone feel of a small town. There's a kindness and optimism to the town, like a Twin Peaks refusing to show us its underbelly. For me, what impressed me most is how moving the play is and how engaged I was in reading it. I couldn't tell you much about any single character, and I can't say anything about the play's action, but the It's a Wonderful Life narration has excellent tone to it (the play's forward, which is best left until after reading the play, says the Frank Capra movie draws lots of inspiration from this play). The narration feels earnestly folksy and slightly overconfident, like a parent talking down to a child, and is one of the main joys of this insightful play about the broad strokes of human life.