Director Note: OUR TOWN

Nov 20

4th Wall Theatre Company’s production of OUR TOWN by Thornton Wilder runs from November 21 - December 20, 2025. You can learn more about the show and reserve tickets at this link.

Working on OUR TOWN has been a formative experience for me as I finish directing my fourth show as Artistic Director. Each of the shows have been a unique experience and required different things from me. This one was the largest cast I have directed in our space and that presented a whole new world of challenges. I could not have done this without a flexible team of artists, actors, designers and mentors. My name is listed as director, but there isn’t a single person on this team who I don’t feel has a share in that title. This has indeed been a group effort.

Thank you to my mentor and friend, Kim Tobin-Lehl who was able to step in when I got stuck and told her “there are so many people on stage! Help!” Her previous work with large casts in our theater was a gift and I learned so much from watching her refine what I had started.. As Artistic Director, my aim is to achieve the best production and so thank you to the team for collaborating and changing and allowing me to grow in this process. I look forward to continuing to grow in my craft in the years ahead.

OUR TOWN is a reflection of life, love, and death—the human experience. It is an incredibly simple story, but yet it resonates time and time again, year after year. It is in the simplicity that we are reminded to pick our heads up out of the noise and hurry of our lives and try to appreciate the things that matter most, each other. Emily asks, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?” And while the answer is no, I will walk away from Our Town with more resolve to try. I hope you will, too.

Happy holidays, and thank you for ongoing support of 4th Wall.

Jennifer Dean
Artistic Director
Director of OUR TOWN