Winsted Summer Theater Festival Presents Our Town

Elizabeth Webb (Mariel Gilley) explains to her mother (Amanda Maragnano) why she must read while she eats her breakfast.

The Winsted Summer Theater Festival presents Thornton Wilder’s Our Town at the Gilbert School Library, 200 Williams Ave. in Winsted on Thursday through Saturday, August 15-17 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, August 18 at 4 p.m. The public is invited to this free performance, which is the first full-length production the group has mounted.

The festival is part of an effort to build community in Winsted and has been sponsored by community organizations. "The Naders brought me to Winsted to use the arts to build community here, so the Nader Trust funds my salary, but so many community organizations have been supportive of this project," said Penny Owen, the project’s director. "Northwestern Connecticut Community College gave us Duc Tien’s services and he has made some beautiful posters for us. The Gilbert School gave us the use of their space for the performances. The Winchester Public Schools gave us the use of Batcheller School for our children’s workshop and production. The Winsted Recreation Department has helped us with organizational support. And I am especially appreciative to the Redman’s Club, which allowed us to rehearse in their upstairs space four days a week for over a month. They have been truly magnificent and kind to us."

Ms. Owen believes that Our Town is a wonderful play to begin a drama series about community. A Pulitzer Prize winning play, Our Town has become an American classic. Economically told, it addresses the simple and presumably ordinary events that give life its grandeur and its meaning. "Since we had a very small budget, we needed to do a production that relied on the actors rather than on sets and high-tech special effects. Our Town requires no set, so that saved us a lot of money and I am so proud of the actors in this production. Most have had very little acting experience and they have worked very hard and created very powerful and touching characters. They are truly giving a gift to the community through their work," Ms. Owen said.

The production features Winsted residents Jenny and Mariel Gilley portraying the Webb sisters, Emily and Elizabeth, and Karen Hunter as Hennie Newsome. Brien LaForge plays the Crowell brothers. Amanda Maragnano is Myrtle Webb, Sean Melycher and Alyssa Olavarria are George and Rebecca Gibbs, Lisa Sharrard plays Mrs. Soames, and Travis Webb is Joe Stoddard. Other cast members come from Torrington, Sharon, Terryville and Watertown.

Big brother George Gibbs (Sean Melycher) explains the universe to his very wise little sister, Rebecca (Alyssa Olavarria).

"There is seating for fifty people a night in the library," explained Ms. Owen. "We had hoped to perform on the practice field at Gilbert so people could bring a picnic and then watch a beautiful show under the stars, but summer construction made that difficult this year. But there is always next year. My goal is to write an original play about Winsted within the next few years, and with the kind of support I have received here, that just might happen sooner than I imagined."

Amanda Maragnano as Myrtle Webb and Jason Smith as Charles Webb attend a funeral-one of the "ordinary events in human life."