
Raven Collaborative Presents Our Town
by Syd Walsh
The mission of our high school drama department is to engage all students in the pursuit of discovery-based creative rehearsal and play. The goal of our theatrical pursuits is one of communal experience supported by the unshakable foundation of ensemble. We mash up scripts, improvise, and choose music to suit the needs of the collective. Working from this place of experimentation, invention, and investigation gives actors great domination, freedom of interpretation, and an enlivened method of addressing theatrical text. Inventing our work ensures that members of Raven Collaborative will always have exciting roles to play (or multiple roles) in any given production.
This fall, we worked on Thornton Wilder’s classic American play Our Town. Our Town is not a mash-up, but a three-act masterpiece devoted to community, friendship, the small and meaningful moments of daily life and loss, and the journey to first love. From a place and time a century ago, Wilder gives us some musings and gentle instructions on how to live in and truly appreciate our present time in all its forms. He reminds us, through his characters and words, that time passes before we know it. That, in the end, is the big picture — we are truly only here for each other. That is our life every day. Working from a spare, modern, and spacious music score, the wonderful musicians of Waverly Music have given Our Town sonic wisdom, lush beauty, and a deep feeling tone.
We hope that you enjoy Raven Collaborative’s offering of Our Town, because we couldn’t do it without you. You, who really are…our town.
