An American theater classic. Twenty-seven local actors. A historic theater. It’s all coming together for the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance’s (DVAA) production of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Our Town,” at the Tusten Theatre.

The show opens tonight, Friday, October 16 at 7 p.m. and runs on Saturday, October 17 at 7 p.m.; Friday, October 23 at 7 p.m.; and Saturday, October 24 at 2:30 p.m. Advanced tickets cost $40 for adults ($32 for DVAA members); tickets at the door cost $50 for adults ($40 for DVAA members) and youth 12 under are free. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

While the play originally debuted in 1938, it takes place between 1901 through 1913 and deals with the ramifications of the Civil War and Revolutionary War and reckoning of World War I, highlighting themes that still ring true today.

Director Greg Triggs hopes that audiences will take away the timelessness of the play, and its depiction of everyday life.

“There are some very thought-provoking moments about war,” he said. “I think this play is interesting because in its best version, it doesn’t tell you what to think but it reminds you to inform yourself.” 

Through primary and secondary characters, the play depicts ordinary stories in the fictional small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire.

The play says the town has a population is 2,640—larger than the Town of Tusten, which as of the 2020 Census has a population of 1,405 (while Narrowsburg has only around 482).

“You’ve got the archetypes of the townspeople,” Triggs said. “But it doesn’t have a traditional antagonist or villain; the thing that [the characters] are bumping up against is time and mortality—and that in the course of day-to-day living you miss a lot of what is really happening.”

The production is a coming-back-to-history moment, as it was first presented by the DVAA in 1976, directed and produced by DVAA co-founders Tom DeGaetani and Elaine Giguere.

Giguere is serving as an informational source in today’s performances. “I’m the historical marker,” she joked. “Well actually, I do have three lines in the play.”

Both Giguere and Triggs agree that the play, although it was written 88 years ago, still resonates today.

“It’s about coming back to your roots and taking a look at what you should be grateful for,” Giguere said. “The play itself is a history of its own.”

Triggs, who is a writer and director, said he first read “Our Town” in middle school and it really stuck with him and is excited to bring it back to the DVAA.

“It is a real honor to be trusted with coming up with the 2026 version of what is very memorable to so many people from 50 years ago that set so many things in motion,” he said.

Giguere ruminated on working on the play 50 years ago with a cast of community players, some who are still alive and some who have passed.

“To have so much of it still be so relevant… I was worried, but it really holds up,” she said.