Our Town, the Madison Repertory Theatre's newest offering, isn't just any work that Sandra Marquez would commit four months of her life to. Marquez, associate artistic director of Teatro Vista, the only equity Latino theater in the Midwest based in Chicago, and adjunct theater lecturer at Northwestern University, can pick the projects she becomes involved in. And after reading Our Town again ? the ending brought her to tears -- and learning how Richard Corley, the Madison Rep's artistic director, was going to treat the play, Marquez committed to playing Mrs. Gibbs, wife to the town's doctor and social pillar.
While Our Town is set in a small New Hampshire town, Thornton Wilder -- who spent part of his youth in Madison -- wrote Our Town to be produced with few stage props, emphasizing its universal truths about life. Marquez was attracted by the Mrs. Gibbs character who has always placed her family first before her own dreams and desires.
"I think her dream of going to Paris is a big dream, but when she gets the opportunity to maybe do it, it's such a surprise in her life," Marquez said during an interview over coffee. "I think what is moving about this play, at least for me, is the question, 'What's the point of all this?' She's devoted to her husband and devoted to her kids. But I think she is a woman who is thinking that there has to be more. 'Maybe we can go to Paris? Let's do something that isn't everyday for us.' And that's a far bigger dream than her husband dares to dream. Mrs. Gibbs represents the part of life that is lacking in every human being. I think it is a lie that you get everything. I don't think people get everything. And that is hard to reconcile. It is the human condition."
Corley uses a large interracial cast to portray slices of life in small town America around the turn of the 20th century and the universal truths that cut across race and class. And while the race of the characters may influence the audience's perspective at the beginning of the play, by the end, it matters not at all. For the actors, it is all about getting into the heart and soul of the characters. "When we started the first day reading through the play, I was looking around to see who was cast how," Marquez said. "But then, after that -- I would venture to guess that's true for all of the actors, but I can't speak for them - once you get down to the work of digging into it, it doesn't really matter. The issues are still the same and people still die. People still go through their lives. And it's true, in all cultures; there are weddings and other things. So when you think of it in that way, you go to the next level, and it doesn't really matter, although some people may still get hung up on that. Not that it is bad or good either way, necessarily, but the story that is being told and what he is trying to do with this concept, to me, is interesting."/Marquez and the other actors had to develop their characters by bringing a part of themselves to the role while staying true to Wilder's vision of the characters. "Did Rick want me to be who I am playing a White woman because I could do that," Marquez wondered. "Or did he want me to be more conscious of who I am? I had to find a balance. Finding the balance is what you do in any show because you are bringing yourself into the character. That goes beyond the color of your skin or whatever."
Marquez emphasized that there is always an important actor that is always off-stage in any theater production: the audience and its perception of the play. "We're doing it for the audience, so whatever energy the audience brings in, it's going to determine what the show is like," Marquez said. "It's not complete until you get the audience. You sense the audience's energy. And every night, an audience is different. As a result, this art is very organic. It's never exactly the same. It can't be because if the audience is very energetic in responding to everything, that does something to you. And if they are very unresponsive, that means 'Okay, I have to keep going even if it seems they are not into it.' The production is slightly different every night, but it isn't complete until the audience is there."
After sitting in on a rehearsal of Our Town, this author can say that Our Town is a moving work of art brought to life with a very talented cast led by André De Shields, who starred in "The Full Monty" on Broadway, as "The Stage Manager". It is a tearful portrayal of contemporary America's Our Town.
Our Town runs February 17-March 12 in the Overture Center's The Playhouse. Tickets are $12-$44. For ticket information, call 258-4141. |
