Our Town Lesson Plan

Stage Design and Imagination

Kind of Activity:

Artistic Response

Objective:

Students will be able to explore the differences between theatrical design and realism

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1

Structure:

Discuss Wilder's opening stage directions for Our Town: "No curtain. No scenery." Have the students ever seen a play produced that way? Why do they think Wilder would have made that choice? Based on what they've read so far, do they think Wilder's instructions are a good idea? Why or why not?

Then move the discussion into an exploration of Grover's Corners. What do students feel they know about the town. Have they ever been to, or lived in, a town like...