Production History in Japan•『わが町』日本における上演の歴史

Frank Craven, Martha Scott and John Craven in the original Broadway production of Our Town (1938), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Let’s talk about the history of Our Town and its themes!

Our Town is performed in three acts and each act has a theme. Life for the first act, Love for the second act and Death for the third act. The story takes place in an imaginary small town named Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Our Town tells the story of the lives of residents in Grover’s Corners over twelve years. The main characters are George and Emily who are around the same age.

The first act begins in the early morning on May 7th, 1901. It focuses on the everyday life of residents of Grover’s Corners. The second act begins in the early morning on July 7th, 1904, three years after the first act. It catches us up on the romance between George and Emily in their last year of high school. George and Emily have decided to get married. The third act is in 1913, nine years after the second act. We learn about Emily’s death and we see her funeral at a cemetery in Grover’s Corners…

Thornton Wilder Three Plays

As I mentioned in the Introduction blog, Our Town is one of the most frequently performed plays in the United States. Since the first public performance on February 4th, 1938, Our Town has been continuously performed around the world by the theater groups irrespective of professional or amateur. Today, we can find a lot of information about Our Town, photos and announcements quickly and easily on social media like Instagram and YouTube.

Of course, Our Town has also been performed many times in Japan. Shiro Narumi, the translator of the book Thornton Wilder Three Plays: ‘Our Town’ published November 25, 1995, gives us the detailed history of Our Town performances in Japan.

The first public performance of Our Town in Japan was from 3 to 5 July, 1941, directed by Teruko Nagaoka¹ at Tsukiji Playhouse by Bungakuza².

Bungakuza performed some one-act plays by Thornton Wilder many times since they performed The Long Christmas Dinner in March, 1951 after WWII.

Nagaoka Teruko

As an aside, I think it’s really cool that Nagoya Players will perform Our Town on the 79th anniversary weekend of it’s Japanese premiere;)

Our Town would then be adapted by Teruko Nagaoka. The story was relocated from Grover’s Corners to a small town in Kawasaki city, Kanagawa prefecture called Mizonokuchi. The adapted story was titled Our Town-Mizonokuchi and performed in February, 1976.

Since then, many others have followed suit and adapted Our Town for Japanese audiences. Some notable productions include, Our Town-Setagaya performed by Theater Touen in February, 1993 and Our Town-Tamagawa performed in October, 1994.

Our Town is now over eighty-years old and continues to be performed all over the world. I believe this is because the story is universal. Cultures may be different from place to place, but we are all human. We all experience Life, Love and Death.

I think it’s amazing Japanese directors have adapted the story and given it a Japanese touch. But I’m really looking forward to seeing the original English script performed live. It’ll be a special treat!

Atsumi Yamamoto
Content & Outreach
Nagoya Players

1. Teruko Nagaoka directed and also performed in plays for Bungakuza during this time, and is said to be a pioneer for female theater directors in Japan. [↩]
2. Bungakuza is a Japanese theater company founded on 6 September, 1937. The origin of the company’s name came from two French words littérature + théâtre. [↩]

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