It’s very easy to forget that the Oxford School of Drama exists. On the Oxford theatre circuit, audiences are always inundated with publicity for local amateur, touring and Oxford University student productions as well as a handful of professional theatre companies such as the Oxford Shakespeare Company and Creation Theatre. It is strange therefore that one of the most respected drama schools in the country (recent graduates include Claire Foy, star of The Crown and Wolf Hall) never quite reaches the popular consciousness of those who regularly attend the theatre in Oxford. With the chance to see newly trained and talented actors, this seems like an opportunity missed.
This week, OSD takes residence at the North Wall in Summertown with Thornton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town. In the US, Our Town is considered on the same level as All My Sons and A Streetcar Named Desire as one of the great American plays. In the UK, despite recent successful productions at the Almedia and the Manchester Royal Exchange, most people know Our Town because Joey is cast in it in an episode of Friends (the reviewer says 'everything about this production of Our Town was terrible, apart from Joey Tribbiani, who was abysmal'. I intend to be slightly kinder about this production. Our Town is a metadrama spanning many years in the small town of Grovers Corners, New Hampshire. The audience is introduced to the many inhabitants of the town whilst mainly focusing on the love that blossoms between neighbours George Gibbs and Emily Webb.
In this production director Alice Malin strips the North Wall auditorium back to its brickwork, making the space feel cavernous and open, like they have indeed squashed a whole town into the theatre. Credit is due to Malin and designer Georgia de Grey for one of the best uses of the North Wall space I have seen, utilising all levels of the space perfectly. The costumes also mix modern styles with the original setting to show the timelessness of the play's themes.
This production has many splendid moments. The soft beauty of young George and Emily (beautifully played by Robert Lennon and Madeleine Allardice) calling to each other from their bedrooms about maths homework while the choir practices 'Blest Be the Tie That Binds' in the background is evocative and captivating. In the second act, there is an incredible exchange between older George and his soon-to-be father-in-law Mr Webb (Sam Landon and Joseph Clayton on top of their game) on the morning of George and Emily’s wedding. But this all pails into insignificance when compared to an astonishing third act (entitled Death and Eternity) which shifts startlingly in tone to nine years later in a graveyard up on a hill just outside the town. Incredible stagecraft, performances, balloons, a confetti drop and LED light up trainers are all used to bring what is essentially a mean-spirited atheist doctrine to life in a way is apocalyptically brilliant.
The problem is that neither play or production ever really allows the cast to fully stretch their dramatic muscle and show what they can do, which is surely the point of showcases like this. Whilst every member of the cast shows discipline and diligence when it comes to being their cog in the machine (in particular the five Stage Managers who narrate the story and guide the audience through the play) I’d be hard-pressed to point out a cast member who had the opportunity to show the full range of their acting ability. There is also one incredibly misjudged moment where the whole cast sing Sweet Child Of Mine by Guns N' Roses. Such a sudden and jarring drop in of pop music made me think the project had been kidnapped by Baz Luhrmann.
Overall, if you’re up for seeing a modern and resonant interpretation of a classic text then this is the show for you. You’re unlikely to see performers as well trained as these or see a company who work as well as a cohesive unit. As seriously depressing as it is, act three is worth the cost of the ticket alone.