High Point presents 'Our Town'

WANTAGE — “Is this your first time to Grover's Corners? You'll enjoy your time. It's a nice town,” commented Ms. Corcoran, played by Kayla Diee, while leading people to their seats.
Right from the start and throughout, last weekend's High Point Regional High School's production of “Our Town” empowered audiences to imagine what small town life and relationships were like in Grover's Corners, N.H., at the turn of the century.
Incredibly poignant in its powerful simplicity, “Our Town” depicts three separate days in the lives of the townspeople — with some flashbacks — addressing childhood and family life, love and marriage, and death. The simple black stage set with “minimal props and scenery” accentuated the students' ability to transport the audience through laughter and appreciation of life's simple pleasures — to tears and regret of missing those same joys through life's busyness.
Some well done touches included students throwing a pretend baseball across the audience, up and down the aisles of the theater, painting the picture of a small town and youthful relationships.
The “Congregational Church Choir” beautifully sang hymns a cappella : “Amazing Grace,” “Blest Be the Tie that Binds,” and “Abide with Me,” as the choir reduced in size over the span of around 12 years, reflecting members of the community dying.
Director Theresa Riccardi explained, “Our Town” is about making the most of every moment. She added, she loves the message and the enormous challenge it gives students as actors — really touching upon a range of emotion and making the students dig deep in bringing out the meaning of what Thornton Wilder intended with the script.
Riccardi commented, the kitchen scene with the mother, Mrs. Webb, portrayed by Brielle Morris, is so strong — the idea the mother does not hear her daughter, Emily Webb, portrayed by Gabrielle Ramaglino, although they had a wonderful relationship with a close family growing up. She observed, maybe the mother did not think about it enough, stop, and say, “I love you.”; and who knew her daughter would die so young.
During the scene, Emily, returns from the grave to relive a happy day on earth, and exclaims, “Mama, just for a moment we're happy. Let's look at one another...It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another.” However, her mother continues her household chores — unable to see her.
Riccardi shared, as a cast, they had had so many discussions. She explained, Assistant Director Rose Riccardi, her sister, and she have such a passion for the show; and it is one of her top five favorites — one of the most enjoyable and yet thought provoking plays she could bring to high school students.
Amusingly, she continued, the kids knew before she did that every six years, “It just seems, it's time for us to do it again, because the message needs to come back through the stage of High Point.”
She added, “It is great to see them find it and recognize it; and what they have done over six weeks — I couldn't be prouder.”
Morris said, it was one of the most exposing, rawest, and biggest acting challenges she had ever encountered — and she has been acting since she was 10 years old. In addition, she said, she has grown so much as an actor through the three act play and looks at life differently, having also grown so much as a person.
Dr. Gibbs, portrayed by Benji Morisson agreed, it was such an exposing play, where, “You don't need a big set or props, or even a horse — we pantomime a horse. You don't need that to tell an amazing story. It's just you and your ability to tell the story.”
One of the stage mangers, portrayed by Ricky Davies, said the whole theme is about not taking life for granted — to always live life to the fullest. He continued, the play will never get old, as it can relate so much to the past, now, and also to the future; it is something that everybody should think about all the time.
Ramaglino said the play had really changed her as a person; and it was so hard to say goodbye to the show. She also said, she hoped it affected the audience, because she knew it affected everyone in the cast and crew; and she was so thankful to have been a part of it.
Another touching part had been at the end of the Sunday Matinee, when Ramaglino gave her mom, Roni Ramaglino, who had worked on costumes, some flowers with a big hug in her white wedding dress. She mentioned, she had told her mom as she hugged her, “Thanks, mom, for everything,” — in tears.
The cast already began applying what they had learned to real life.