72 years and counting

By Tim Smith

I enjoyed sharing over my previous two columns a personal listing of what I believed were the top 10 most significant artistic accomplishments over the decade from 2000-2009. If it generated some discussion in your circle, then the focus was well timed.

We are on the right track and now must continue to seek out creative ways to maintain that momentum. That will not be an easy undertaking in the coming years.

As an avid reader of a publication that focuses on the state of our national theatre, it is, at times, quite alarming in presenting how the economy has impacted the ability of our leading theater organizations to deliver quality entertainment. The challenges facing the public schools and other services are becoming more and more apparent with each passing day.

Working together, we must find a way to look beyond the normal way of doing things and take a creative approach to building our new future. Let’s focus on the arts for providing some of that stimulus. For that is what creative expression calls on us to do, think outside of the box.

On a lighter note, and as we reflect on doing more with less, let’s turn to an old friend. No play ever written is better able to convey a story through its use of a bare stage, highlighted only with sparse theatrical elements than the Thornton Wilder classic, Our Town.

I have written about the impact this masterpiece has had on my career, having acted in and directed productions, and what continues to amaze me is that this three act gem seems to have a resurgence when we most need to be gently reminded on the importance of family, relationships, traditions, and yes, simple storytelling.

Enjoying a revival in New York, (thus leading to being spotlighted on national news programs) what dawned on me the other day was that this minimalist approach to sharing the lives of those living in the fictitious town of Grover’s Corners continues to resonate, even at the highest level.

Staying true to Wilder’s original concept, even to a New York audience, may be the reason it has been produced more than “4,000 times in the last decade alone,” according to the CBS Morning Show reporting on January 31st. There is our decade reference again.

Was Mr. Wilder trying to tell us something (simple is better) even as far back as 1938 when the play was first produced? Over the intervening 72 years, story continues to win out every time and maybe that is where we should be thinking in the years ahead, simple and easy ways to tell today’s stories.

At times over the coming months, I will offer suggestions as to how we can sustain our artistic momentum and sharpen our creative swords. The best is yet to come, in fact, the best might not even be discovered yet.

I also encourage you to contact the Pauls Valley Arts Council if you have ideas that you feel might assist in this ongoing effort. Your expertise is needed now more than ever.

Our town is your town.

TAS