Multiple identities of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilde’s Our Town

張建飛

【Abstract】When Thornton Wilde writes Our Town he creatively designs the image of Stage Manager in the play and gives him multiple identities. It makes him take up the role of propsman， the narrator of the story， the propeller of the story and actor and so on. Through this image with multiple identities， the link of the story is strengthened.

【Key words】Our Town； Thornton Wilde； Stage Manager

Introduction

As the highest achievement of the great American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilde， Our Town is famous in western modern drama for decades. The description object of this drama is the ordinary people living in New Hampshire. The play focuses on the portray of the Gibbs and the Webbs.

1. Property Man and Narrator

The Stage Manager is regarded by some critics as Chinese property man. Setting chairs and drawing curtains is his main mechanical duties. For example， at the beginning of the show， the audience who come into the theatre only can see an empty stage in the dim light. After the stage manager appears he play a table and some chairs on the left and right side of the stage to stand for the house of the Gibbs and Webbs. And then begin to introduce to the audience of the writer， director， main actors and the background of the story.

The arrangement of the plot and time of Our Town is rather big. The first act occurs in 1901. In this scene Wilde show the audience the trivial life of one day of the people in this town. The second scene occurs three years later. George and Emily get married. The drama focuses on the description of the two young people. The third scene occurs in the summer of 1913， Emily dies in childbirth with the help of the stage manager she return to the world to review the ordinary life of her 12 years olds birthday. This day has just begun， Emily go back to the cemetery disappointedly because she is unable to bear the living peoples disregard for the good life. Wilde creatively put the stage manager as the narrator of the drama. He provide the background of the story to the audience and guide the audience observe the life of the town and the activities of the people from different perspectives.

2. The Propeller of the Story

The plot is developed fluently through bridging the gap between the scenes by the stage manager. The stage manager introduce to the audience the things happened between the scenes. Therefore， the audience can move to the next scene without perplexity. For instance， at the beginning of the second scene he introduces to the audience what happens in the natural world and society. And what happens in this scene is three years later. Susan summaries the stage managers this function in his Masterpieces of 20'h-centuiy American Drama. From his point of view， the stage manager bridges the gaps in time. It is because he can speak to the audience as well as the actors freely and directly through various forms.

3. Actor

According to the needs of the plot， the stage manager can also be used as an actor to participate in the performance of the drama. For example， in the first scene when George walking along the road he bumps into an old woman. However， the old lady was a virtual and invisible figure. When George apologize to her：“Sorry， Mrs Forrest.” The stage manager becomes this old woman rightly and response that：“To play in the fields， young man. You shouldn play baseball in the street.”（P12）

In the second scene， the stage manager plays the role of the grocery store owner and preside over Emily and George's wedding. In the third scene， the stage manager becomes a magic figure， he leads Emily return to the world to experience the life of her 12 years olds birthday. Through the stage manager and Emilys freedom in and out of the plot Wilde demonstrate peoples thinking on life and death. As a special image， the stage manager sometimes is in the plot and sometimes is out of the plot. In this way it not only creates the intricate fantastic features of the drama but also bring about the narrative alienation effect.

Conclusion

Before Our Town no serious writer in American drama employed a role like the Stage Manager. The stage manager smashes the barrier between actors and the audience through making them to communicate with the actors. In this way the theme of this drama is revealed clearly： The living don't understand the meaning of life， and the deceased who understands it are in another world. Our Town opens up a new way for the success of American experimental drama. It has a great influence on later playwrights writing. Such as Tennessees The Glass Menagerie.

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