What if you attended a high school production that had a connection to your hometown?
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning and American playwright, “Our Town” is making the cut as Moorestown High School’s fall theatrical production on Oct. 25 to Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. But for Moorestown, this is more than the yearly fall high school production.
Play director and high school history teacher Greg Harr, came across the Afterword of the Harper Collin’s edition of “Our Town.” The afterword explained the play’s connection to Wilder’s upbringing. As he read on, Collins discussed Wilder’s brother’s wedding in 1935. Wilder was the best man at his brother’s — Amos’s — wedding. Amos’s was marrying Catharine Kerlin — a Moorestown Friends School alumnus, a graduate of Smith College, and historian.
Although the theatrical wedding set in New Hampshire, the actual wedding of Amos and Catharine Kerlin Wilder, took place in the garden of the Kerlin home in Moorestown.
After Harr discovered the town’s connection to a famous American playwright, the Moorestown Historical Society’s trustee Lenny Wagner, managed to find the decedents of Thornton Wilder.
It took Wagner a few hours to find the contact information of Kerlin’s children. When he finally reached out to them, he discovered the family had their mother’s belongings and were looking for a place for the items.
The family willingly donated the items to the Moorestown Historical Society.
Adding to the historical significance of the play, a display case was set up outside of the high school auditorium. The case contains, Kerlin’s wedding dress and the original box, photos, the wedding certificate and a signed copy of Kerlin’s memoir — “Milestones in My Life.” When the play is finished, the display will move to the Smith-Cadbury Mansion.
Not only a native of Moorestown, Kerlin gave many lectures at the Moorestown Community House, served as the European diplomatic corps, and spent time working for the American Committee to the League of Nations, Wagner said.
“She was an accomplished person of interest even if she wasn’t married to Thorton Wilder,” Wagner said.
Learning about Kerlin’s history in Moorestown as well as the plays connection to Moorestonians, the students participating in the production of “Our Town” are getting an up close and personal history lesson their hometown.
Harr tries to make sure, like every fall production, the plays are both “educational and entertaining.”
As a part of rehearsal, the students are given the chance to analyses their characters and play direction and connect them to everyday life.
“We are always looking for ways for the students to relate,” Harr said.
With minimal props and scene displays, the play is set to allow the audience to see how the production is supposed to relate to every day life and not just those living in New Hampshire.
“The audience fills in the blanks,“ Harr said. “The idea is it’s supposed to be ‘Our Town.’”
Tappan Wilder, the nephew of Thornton and son of Amos and Catharine Wilder, and the literary executor of Thornton’s estate, is also planning on addressing the cast via Skype, during one of the rehearsals.
Ticket prices for all three-play dates are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. The play will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Moorestown High School auditorium. The high school is located on 350 Bridgeboro Road.
For more information contact Greg Harr at [email protected].
