Saline High School's recent visit to "Our Town"

However, that provides an interesting predicament for actors. How do they capture the slow-moving small-town atmosphere without losing the drive and intention necessary to create engaging drama?

Here is where Saline’s production fell short. All the actors seemed to be working hard, but unfortunately, throughout the first two acts, they fell short of giving each character the energy and charisma they need. Individual performances are good, but there’s no sense of the life and heartbeat of the town — and a lifeless “Our Town” doesn’t quite work.

The situation improved slightly in the third act, when the cast seemed to step up a level with Wilder’s darker material. Glatz creates a haunting image of the dead apathetically watching on as the living mourn them, instilling Wilder’s profound thoughts on life and death with a steady poignancy.

This is assisted by strong technical elements. Some of the sounds are very effective — there’s a magical feeling when you see the milkman pulling along an imaginary cow and you hear the sound of milk bottles clinking against each other. There’s also a marvelous image in the closing scene of the first act, when the lights dim for a starry night, complemented by two separate ladders, representing the rooms of George Gibbs and Emily Webb. The actors also effectively utilized their space, using hidden doors in the side, ramps leading up on both sides of the stage, and even seats in the audience.

Yet the nature of the performing space itself did not help the play. In the program, the director calls to attention to the fact that Thornton Wilder called “Our Town” a “little play,” while Saline’s big stage dwarfs the action, giving a sense of expansiveness to the piece. This is not quite appropriate for “Our Town,” and the charm and intimacy of the play would have improved exponentially in a smaller venue.

Another major issue was the lack of props in the show. Wilder specifically calls for few props and a sparse set, and Saline stayed true to that, but the miming of nearly everything doesn’t quite work in this production. Imaginary props appear and disappear, and grow larger and smaller inconsistently. Sometimes drinks will miss the mouth of the drinker entirely. Thornton Wilder didn’t want props getting in the way of his story, but unfortunately, here the miming is so sloppy that it only serves to distract from the characters onstage. Perhaps it’s not even so much the mistakes as much as the vast inconsistencies between the actors. Even so, there were still some really excellent performances. Abby Dotz was a wonderful Emily Webb, and her romance with Kevin Anderson as George Gibbs was both believable and touching. Another standout was Atrina Ezeinyi as Mrs. Soames, whose strong presence adds a layer of emotion to the show’s powerful wedding scene. Sarah Paterson was also strong as the show’s on-stage Stage Manager, and William Miller was delightfully cynical and bitter as Simon Stimson.

Ultimately, the Saline Drama Club put together an interesting show with some great moments and images, but there were some problems with the production, and the actors didn’t quite capture the energy and charisma required for an interesting and engaging “Our Town."

The aim of AnnArbor.com's student-review program is to recognize, and provide more coverage for, the accomplished theatrical work that's happening in our schools while also providing opportunities for student writers with an interest in arts criticism. To encourage objectivity, our student writers will always review shows from schools other than their own. To learn more about the student-review program, contact Jenn McKee at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546.