Our Town : An Anti-realistic View

Our Town: An Anti-Realistic View In his play, Our Town, the three time Pulitzer Prize winning dramatist, Thornton Wilder, uses techniques somewhat unconventional and anti-realistic compared to the works of other dramatists. Being more like a statement, the play's theme is about enjoying the simple pleasures of life and daily routines. Wilder employs many unconventional or anti-realistic ideas and techniques to further advance the play's universal theme and to incorporate audience participation. The first technique …

…takes these opportunities to express more of Wilder's views through asides. Using these unconventional techniques, Wilder advances the play's universal theme. He upheld its ‘simple' theme by using techniques that simplify aspects of the play. He removed props, manipulated time and space and used a narrator to exemplify his play's theme. These strategically used techniques certainly did help advance the theme and at the same time turned the audience into active participants in the play.