University of Calgary drama department reimagines 1938 classic Our Town

The University of Calgary Drama Department is presenting Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize winning drama Our Town through Feb. 15 (Tim Nguyen, Fifth Wall Media)

The University of Calgary’s drama department is reviving an old classic to teach a new generation of theatre artists how to transform an old story into theatre.

The university’s theatre department is presenting Our Town, Thornton Wilder’s 1938 classic, which is famously minimalist in its storytelling.

Directed by drama professor Jane MacFarlane, who is also a longtime resident voice coach at Theatre Calgary, Our Town tells the story of everyday life in the town of Grover’s Corners, N. H, through the narration of a stage manager who sets the story up and then watches as the scenes play out.

The Pulitzer-Prize winning play was most recently produced by Theatre Calgary in 2008, with Dave Kelly playing the role of the Stage Manager.

U of C’s production divides the Stage Manager into two roles and the show features a “diverse, gender-inclusive cast” of senior drama students.

More than 60 University of Calgary students, alumni, professors and Calgary theatre professionals worked on the production.

Our Town opens Friday night at University Theatre and runs through Feb. 15.

For more information, go here.