Another Day's Begun
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century
by Howard Sherman
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Pub Date 28 Jan 2021 | Archive Date 28 Feb 2021
Bloomsbury Academic | Methuen Drama
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Description
A work of startling originality when it debuted in 1938, Thornton Wilder's Our Town evolved to be seen by some as a vintage slice of early 20th Century Americana, rather than being fully appreciated for its complex and eternal themes and its deceptively simple form. This unique and timely book shines a light on the play's continued impact in the 21st century and makes a case for the healing powers of Wilder's text to a world confronting multiple crises. Through extensive interviews with more than 100 artists about their own experience of the play and its impact on them professionally and personally – and including background on the play's early years and its pervasiveness in American culture – Another Day's Begun shows why this particular work remains so important, essential, and beloved.
Every production of Our Town has a story to tell beyond Wilder's own. One year after the tragedy of 9/11, Paul Newman, in his final stage appearance, played the Stage Manager in Our Town on Broadway. Director David Cromer's 2008 Chicago interpretation would play in five more cities, ultimately becoming New York's longest-running Our Town ever. In 2013, incarcerated men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility brought Grover's Corners inside a maximum security prison. After the 2017 arena bombing in Manchester UK, the Royal Exchange Theatre chose Our Town as its offering to the stricken community.
80 years after it was written, more than 110 years after its actions take place, Our Town continues to assert itself as an essential play about how we must embrace and appreciate the value of life itself. Another Day's Begun explains how this American classic has the power to inspire, heal and endure in the modern day, onstage and beyond.
Advance Praise
“Our Town reminds us of what unites, rather than divides, humanity. Howard Sherman has provided a valuable current portrait of the play's ever timely and timeless testimony to our better selves.” – Tappan Wilder
“I love this book! Howard Sherman delivers a fresh, witty, engaging, exhaustively researched, up to the minute backstage tour into one of America's very greatest and perhaps most underestimated plays. An excellent must-have book to own and cherish.” – Stephen Adly Guirgis
“What an immense pleasure to read Another Day Begun: Thornton Wilder's Our Town in the 21st Century. Howard Sherman has crafted a comprehensive overview of Our Town that traces the play's journey from inception to reception, its acceptance and then the interrogations that surround such success. Sherman places Thornton Wilder firmly where he belongs, in the pantheon of the most significant American playwrights. And he makes a compelling case for how the play speaks directly to the complexities our current century” – Anne Bogart
“To explore the pages of this book is to rediscover the joy and wonder of theatre itself. Our Town is arguably the greatest American play, and Howard Sherman helps us understand how it retains that power for new generations, new visions of America, and communities around the globe. The stories he tells, like Wilder's play itself, make their gentle and mysterious way into our hearts, until we too are transformed by a bigger and more generous vision of our world.” – David Henry Hwang
“If Thornton Wilder ever wondered: “What difference will it make if I write this play?”, Howard Sherman's Another Day's Begun answers him. Sherman's book is a remarkable case study of Our Town in multiple contexts. We are given testimony from all involved in how one play makes an enormous difference in appreciating our time on earth and realizing our connection to each other. A must-read for all who love theatre, and an eloquent gift for all of us who wonder what difference it makes to write during our allotment of days” – Paula Vogel
“Howard Sherman has crafted an entertaining and enlightening appreciation of what is arguably the greatest American play … Another Day's Begun is not only a colorful companion to Our Town, but a worthy addition to the study of American theater.” – Donald Margulies
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781350123434 |
| PRICE | £19.99 (GBP) |
