A Lesson in Life: Houston Christian High School Presents Our Town

A scene from the wedding. Pictured: Andre Napier and Caroline Pearce

“Does anybody realize what life is while they're living it- every, every minute?”-Thornton Wilder; Our Town

A play about life, love and death, Thornton Wilder’s award winning Our Town definitely does not shy away from life’s greatest and worst moments. Under the direction of Mr. Bobby Linhart, Houston Christian High School opened Our Town this weekend.

Mr. Linhart says he wanted to do this show because he wanted to use a phenomenal piece of literature to convey a message about the reality of our lives: that we don’t stop and enjoy life enough while we have it. He says what really “stretched him as a director” was staging and he had to get really creative because Our Town was originally written and staged for a proscenium theatre, a more familiarized stage with one side to an audience, and the theatre that he uses is an arena theatre, a stage with four sides of an audience. He now appreciates God’s blessings even more and loves to take his time through life. Mr. Linhart also would like for the audience to be strongly impacted through this and to “love the little things in life.”

The married couple leaves the wedding. Pictured: Travis Qualls, Jillian Stewart, Cameron Dasher, Hannah Maynard, Eddie Bauer, Abbey Conger, Annalis Chaves, Gregory Fossati, Caroline Pearce, Andre Napier, Allyson Joyce, Tanner Shanks, Everett Metz, Zehra Ali, Nick Fakhriravari, Mark McMillian, Avery Minotti, Ashton Deverka

The cast includes many extremely talented actors and actresses including Adam Kral as the Stage Manager, Caroline Pearce as Emily Webb, Andre Napier as George Gibbs, Cameron Dasher as Mrs. Gibbs, Travis Qualls as Mr. Gibbs, Jillian Stewart as Rebecca Gibbs, Allyson Joyce as Mrs. Webb, Everett Metz as Mr. Webb, Tanner Shanks as Wally Webb, Annalis Chaves as Mrs. Soames, Sean Kerrigan as Simon Stimson and many more talented people in the ensemble.

Not only are the audience members impacted by this story, but also the cast. Caroline Pearce (Emily) says that she can relate to her character in Act One because she has grown up, and much like Emily, enjoys her studies in school. She found Acts Two and Three difficult to understand, mostly because she has not gone through those parts in her life yet. She hopes she portrays her character well. Being a part of this has taught her to appreciate life more and to be more active in her life and how she lives it. She and her castmates believe that the message Our Town sends is not just for young adults, but for people of all ages.

A scene from the graveyard. Pictured (from left): Caroline Pearce, Cameron Dasher, Cheri Tang, Jonathan Wells

She enjoys performing her Act Three scenes most because of how much work she had to put into them to make them feel real for both the rest of the cast and the audience. She loves her castmates so much. Ms. Pearce hopes the audience can have a new understanding of life after this. She hopes “they can leave the theatre with more appreciation for the blessings they have received.”

Andre Napier (George) has also been greatly impacted by this play’s message. Andre feels like his character is definitely a parallel of him: outgoing, but also shy and sensitive at times. As a senior, Andre feels like we place too much priority in things that won’t matter later in life such as grades and popularity, and wants to come out of this play with a greater appreciation of his life and the people he has in it. His favorite scene is on the day of the wedding in Act Two, where he goes to the Webb’s house and has a nice conversation with Mr. Webb and is comically kicked out of the house by Mrs. Webb. He hopes the audience leaves having learned that life is short and you should cherish it while you can.

There’s still time to get your tickets to this amazing show. We have shows Friday the 10th at 7 p.m. and Saturday the 11th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.. Don’t forget your tissues! After opening night, there was not a dry eye in the audience. There is almost a guarantee that you will come out of it having been changed for the better and will have a better understanding of life as well. After all, “You've got to love life to have life, and you've got to have life to love life.”