On the level of a portrayal of small town America in the 20th century, “Our Town” is accurate in that it shows Americans to be well organized, civil, simple in life structure, busy, healthy eaters, money conscious, slightly anti-cultural, etc. The play can be enjoyed at this level. The three acts represent well enough the human condition in this cultural setting. On the other hand the play was considered deeply cynical, and against the meaningless life that Americans live. Gnostic overtones loomed over the play in that institutions, the world, God, stuff, and people too, seemed intrinsically bad. The way out that was suggested,”that our true life is in the imagination and in the memory”, which was said by the author, pointed to his desire to find special knowledge to transcend the human condition. In Wilder’s portrayal, very little space is given to our created-ness, our souls, our intellect, and our bodies, which we feel should be dealt with if one attempts to answer the question of meaning. Wilder presumes to answer this question, but it is a gnostic one.
The fact of no props can be explained by the authors emphasis on the ideas of the play, or perhaps the anti-cultural bias that Americans have toward furniture, beauty, decoration.
