Our Rotten Town
Dutton Foster
Corners Grove
by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
Highlights
75 mins Present Day Ensemble Cast Role(s) for Non-Binary Actor(s) Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
Synopsis
A nod to Our Town, this new play shifts Thorton Wilder’s masterpiece into the twenty-first century, to a small town about forty miles south of San Francisco.
George, Emily and their friends are determined to live their lives on their own terms and to shed versions of themselves they’ve outgrown, whether that be their high school sweetheart or their gender identity.
Life has only spun forward, and the only way for the residents of Corners Grove to keep up is to embrace the unknown and commit to their own truths.
Press Reviews
"With metatheatrical insight, humor and deep vulnerability, the play explores identity, grief, connection and the quiet beauty of everyday life – from bonding over nostalgic music to wondering how not to repeat the mistakes of the past."
— University of Kansas
Characters
| Character |
|---|
| STAGE MANAGER (she/her) – Young with an attitude. A romantic at heart. |
| WALLY/WHITNEY WEBB (they/Whitney) – Has a supreme feeling of not fitting in in Corners Grove. Might now identify along the lines of AMAB nonbinary but doesn’t have the words for it in the play’s timeline. Uses “Whitney” as a pronoun alongside “they/them” later in the play but is often misgendered by other characters as “he/him.” Sibling to Emily, BFF to Rebecca, cousins with Julia. |
| EMILY WEBB (she/her) – A whip-smart girl who wants the world at her feet. Book-smart, not street-smart. |
| GEORGE GIBBS (he/him) – An all-American guy. Thinks he’s already a man. Loves Emily. |
| REBECCA GIBBS (she/her) – A hard-partying girl with a big heart. Loves The Real Housewives and vodka. |
| JO CROWELL (she/her) – The kind of person you’d trust with your life. Sibling to Vi; friends with Rebecca, Halle and Wally. |
| HALLE NEWSOME (she/her) – Stoner who works at Cold Stone. In an ideal world, she’d be a meteorologist. |
| JULIA WEBB (she/her) – A sensible, mild-mannered girl who would type everyone’s Sex and the City character upon meeting them. (She’s a Carrie. At least according to her.) |
| MELISSA CARTWRIGHT (she/her) – A great singer. Practical, a good friend. Stubborn. |
| LOU SOAMES (she/her) – The town’s resident gossip, driven by a genuine interest in those around her and a longing for inclusion. Her hair is full of secrets. |
| LUKE LORBERBAUM (he/him) – A guy’s guy. A big softie. Professionally successful, Luke has moral qualms about his corporate job. |
| SIMON STIMSON (he/him) – Musically gifted, leads the community college choir. Has little patience for “mendacity.” |
| STACY MCALLISTER (she/her) – Attended Stanford. Big Sailor Moon fan. |
| SAM CRAIG (she/her) – Simon Stimson’s cousin, left Corners Grove. Now a Boston gal, go Sox. |
| VI CROWELL (she/her) – Responsible and empathetic. Shaped by growing up under Jo’s shadow, then losing Jo. |
| BELLIGERENT AUDIENCE MEMBER IN THE BACK Concerned with temperance, culture and justice. |
Videos
An Interview with Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (Corners Grove) – The Scene Podcast
Publication
Corners Grove is a play written by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin and published by Dramatists Play Service .
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Performance Rights
Available for Licensing
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