Vashon theater students tackle the majesty of ‘Our Town’

Published 11:30 am Tuesday, November 25, 2025

The students of Vashon High School’s drama program, who last astonished island audiences with a searing production of the musical “Ride the Cyclone,” will return to the stage next month in “Our Town” — a work described by playwright Edward Albee as “the finest American play ever written.”

Performances will take place at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13, in the high school’s theater, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Dec. 7.

Showcasing the deep bench of the VHS talent pool, some of the show’s roles have been double-cast, with different students performing them in the first and second weekends of the run. And at the show’s Dec. 7 matinee, understudies will perform in three of the show’s leading roles.

In another twist, three different actors will share the role of the sardonic stage manager, who narrates the show, in each of the productions.

Performed with minimal props and sets, “Our Town” is set between 1901 and 1913 in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, and explores the everyday lives of two families in the small community that swirls around them.

The first two acts of the play follow the children of these families, Emily Webb and George Pierce, as they court each other, fall in love and marry. But the play doesn’t stop there. The play’s third act, titled “Death and Eternity,” is achingly set in a graveyard which, with the passage of time, has become populated by some of the play’s characters.

For theater teacher Andy James, the choice to present “Our Town” came from his conviction that the play would give his students a chance to delve into “the collaborative creation at the heart of theater.”

“The play is made, before your eyes and on not much of a stage, by faces, bodies and a few chairs and tables,” he said.

James also described the play, often produced in high schools and by community theater groups, as deceptively deep, complex and serious.

“‘Our Town’ was such a mainstay of high school theater for so long that I think people began to think of it as a nice, innocuous play — a kind of Americana greeting card,” he said. “But it’s far more radical than that. It slowly peels away daily life until you see eternity behind it, and the hair stands up on the back of your neck.”

For the student actors in the show, delving into the play’s challenging mix of prosaic and poetic content has been filled with revelations.

Lidia Bojko, who will play the role of Mrs. Webb on the first weekend of the run, noted the difficulty of conveying the profundity of the play’s overall message.

“To me, when you look into the script of the show originally, it seems like a normal day in the life for these people, but when you really look into the subtext plus everything going on, it’s so much deeper than that,” Bojko said.

Star D’Artell, who will play Mrs. Gibbs on the first weekend of the run, has also been struck with the difficulty of communicating the emotional intensity of a much different era of American life.

“What I’ve noticed about doing this show so far is the stereotypes within the early 1900s,” D’Artell said. “How women were supposed to act … the internal feelings that weren’t allowed to be shared.”

Another challenge, D’Artell said, has been to navigate the play’s minimalist set and find a way to take command of what is essentially a bare stage. But in rehearsals, she said, the cast has been finding its way.

“At times, I’ve seen it be difficult to evoke these feelings and settings when there’s nothing there,” D’Artell said. “But that’s just the power of the actors.”

The show’s ensemble includes almost 30 students; more are involved in backstage and support roles in the production.

With two intermissions, the show’s two-and-a-half-hour running time makes for a full night of theater for all ages.

Tickets, ranging in price for different groups (though no one will be turned away for lack of funds) can be purchased in advance at tinyurl.com/5n72wwrt. Find out more about the VHS theater program at tinyurl.com/5223xdvk.