Putting the 'Our' in 'Our Town'

Pioneer Press By Chris Hewitt

March 18, 2014

The new production of “Our Town,” being produced by Theater Latte Da at The Lab Theatre in Minneapolis, is very much about including the audience in the experience of the classic play, which is set in a small New England town about 100 years ago. That effort begins before you even enter the theater. In the lobby of the Lab, Latte Da staffer have dedicated a wall to Post-It notes on which cast members, theatergoers and friends of the production can jot down their connections to “Our Town,” whether that’s appearing in it in high school (which is the case with Latte Da Director of External Relations Seena Hodges), seeing a previous “Our Town” or knowing someone in the cast of the current production. (I was tempted to put up my own, noting that the David Cromer-directed production that played in Chicago and New York a couple years ago is one of the most revolutionary evenings of theater I’ve ever had, but someone beat me to the punch.)