Act One Commentary

Thorton Wilder seems to stress the ordinary over the extraordinary, the typical over the unusual. He concentrates on the Gibbs and the Webbs, both of whom seem to live routine and conventional lives.

There are a few hints of unusual events in the play. For instance, Mrs. Gibbs says she may sell an antique and take a trip abroad; and Simon Stinson, the church organist, apparently has been drinking (he says become "some people ain't made for small town life"). His drinking is a protest against commonplace routines, and yet, ironically, his drinking has become a routine.

Routine, then, seems to be the word that best describes the events in Act One of Our Town. There are reminders of other routines. A rooster crows at daybreak, a schoolbell calls children to school, and a whistle calls workers to the factory. The act begins just as an ordinary day would, with the rising of the sun, and the act ends just as an ordinary day would, with the setting of the sun.