Our Town

Emily Webb’s cousin, who has left Grover’s Corners to travel west, but returns for her funeral in Act III. Though originally from the town, Sam has the air of an outsider.

George’s younger sister. Contrary, competitive, daring, immature and a motivated dreamer.

Joe’s younger brother, also a paperboy.

The choirmaster, whose alcoholism and undisclosed “troubles” have been the subject of gossip in Grover’s Corners for quite some time, his misfortunes exploring the limitations of small-town life. He is perhaps most notable for his short speech in Act III, when he says that human existence is nothing but “ignorance and blindness.”

Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs’s son. A decent, upstanding young man, George is a high school baseball star who plans to attend the State Agricultural School after high school. Sincere, agreeable, polite, and respectful, but not very good at book and school learning. A loving person - but not very good at expressing those emotions

Emily’s father and the publisher and editor of the Grover’s Corners Sentinel. Good sense of humor, kindly, demonstrative and sympathetic.

The town undertaker, reclusive watcher, and town chronicler.

The local milkman: good-natured, chatty, friendly and divulges the local gossip. Howie’s reappearance during every morning scene highlights the continuity of life in Grover’s Corners and in the general human experience.

A professor at the State University who gives the audience a report on Grover’s Corners. Professor Willard appears once and then disappears. Animated, enthusiastic, jovial, and gregarious.

A gossipy woman who sings in the choir along with Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs. One of the few townspeople we meet outside of the Webb and Gibbs families, she offers a sense of the interrelated nature of the lives of the citizens of Grover’s Corners.

Mr. and Mrs. Webb’s daughter. Emily is George’s schoolmate and next-door neighbor, then his fiancée, and later his wife. She is an excellent student and a conscientious daughter. After dying in childbirth, Emily joins the group of dead souls in the local cemetery and attempts to return to the world of the living. Her realization that human life is precious because it is fleeting is perhaps the central message of the play.

Emily’s mother and Mr. Webb’s wife. At first a no-nonsense woman who does not cry on the morning of her daughter’s marriage, Mrs. Webb later shows her innocent and caring nature, worrying during the wedding that she has not taught her daughter enough about marriage.

A local policeman. Constable Warren keeps a watchful eye over the community. His personal knowledge of and favor with the town’s citizens bespeaks the close-knit nature of the town.

The paperboy, sharp-witted, opinionated, and upbeat. Joe’s routine of delivering papers to the same people each morning emphasizes the sameness of daily life in Grover’s Corners.

Emily’s younger brother. Stubborn, self-interested, and a lovable young boy. His untimely death underscores the brief and fleeting nature of life.

The host of the play and the dramatic equivalent of an omniscient narrator. The Stage Manager exercises control over the action of the play, cueing the other characters, interrupting their scenes with his own interjections, and informing the audience of events and objects that we cannot see. Although referred to only as Stage Manager and not by a name, they occasionally assume other roles, such as an old woman, a druggist, and a minister. Interacting with both the world of the audience and the world of the play’s characters, they occupy a godlike position of authority.

George’s mother and Dr. Gibbs’s wife. Enduring, justly and appropriate, calm, appreciative and caring. Mrs. Gibbs’s desire to visit Paris—a wish that is never fulfilled—suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen.