Director's Message

I read OUR TOWN decades ago and didn’t quite appreciate it the way I do now. After returning to it last summer, I found myself slowing down to really sit with Thornton Wilder’s words and observations on life. Still, each time I watch these students perform the show, I continue to return to his admonition — be present, really look at one another, and see life as you live it.

Perhaps trouble in the world and the busyness of our lives overwhelms us with a sense of frantic chaos and ever increasing responsibility. Perhaps we are watching something precious we have known dearly slip away into a new reality, and we struggle to part from what was to embrace what may be. Perhaps we are drifting through life feeling unseen and misunderstood and our lonesomeness becomes a powerful force upon us. Perhaps we are enamored with the beauty of love and friendship and family and we forget to seek out those beyond our scope. Perhaps we have questions that no one can answer but ourselves in our honest, lived experience.

We have all been moved by this play throughout our process as we’ve asked important questions of ourselves and of the text. There have been so many moments in rehearsal where we have engaged in deep thinking, personal reflection, vulnerable sharing, and genuine connection — without phones or multitasking or interruptions — and it feels too good to be true.

I am thankful to all the students, crew, and directors who embraced this journey with such care and tenderness. I have learned so much from you and am better because of what you have given of yourselves. I have been moved by your compassion, empathy, intelligence, integrity, and grace. You have shown me that we can all be a little more like the saints and the poets, “realizing life as we live it — every, every minute.”

Rachel Becker




THANK YOU

Gwen Schoeff
Hope Hansen
Emily Wolfgang
Wade Thatcher
Michelle McKaig
Smith Family
Hite Family
Geoff Hammons
Maria Flores
Lexy Britt Buis
David Horn
Emma Browning
Z Club
LHS Administration and Faculty