Stage Manager
...throughout the play. He also interrupts daily conversations on the street. For example, the Stage Manager says, “Thank you. Thank you! That’ll do. We’ll have to interrupt again here. Thank you, Mrs. Webb; thank you, Emily,” (31). In this part of the play, the Stage Manager is interrupting Mrs. Webb and Emily’s conversation. This part of the play also shows how the Stage Manager’s role interacts with the characters on stage. He keeps the play moving at a steady pace. An example of the Stage Manager keeping the play at a steady pace is when Professor Willard is on the stage; “This way, Professor, and thank you again. Now the political and social report: Editor Webb.-Oh, Mr. Webb?” (23). He brings out Mr. Webb, the editor of the local newspaper. Mr. Webb then gives the audience a description of the town socially and politically. The Stage Manager keeps the play moving so the audience stays interested. The Stage Manager is also an arbitrator. He connects the audience with the characters. Before Mr. Webb leaves the stage, the Stage Manager involves the audience. He literally talks to the audience by saying, “Now, is there anyone…about the town?”(24). The Stage Manager’s actions make the audience feel that he is part of the audience. The Stage Manager also makes the characters feel as if he, the Stage Manager, is part of the play. The Stage Manager is part of the community itself by playing three minor roles throughout the play. Every person someone meets on the streets or in the store is important. In Act I, he plays a woman in the street named Mrs. Forest. George accidentally bumps into Mrs. Forest while he is playing catch. The Stage Manager says, “Go out and play…on Main Street,” (27). Mrs. Forest has a very small part in the play. Mrs. Forest’s role is also a vital role in the play; if she wasn’t there to bump into George, the conversation between George and Emily would have never happened. The conversation that occurred was the start of George and Emily’s relationship. Although the Stage Manager is playing Mrs. Forests’ character, he still has control over George’s actions. In Act II, the Stage Manager assumes the part of the minister who performs George and Emily’s wedding ceremony. The Stage Manger expresses his feelings about weddings because he can say what he wants to say; “I’ve married over…Once in a thousand times it’s interesting,” (78). The Stage Manager is making a general statement about human nature. This is important because the Stage Manager is portrayed as a person who tells the truth. Also in Act III, the Stage Manager is the one character who can connect the living and the dead. He takes Emily back into the past and shows her twelfth birthday. After a few minutes of being in the normal state, Emily recognizes that no one realizes how precious life is while living. Using the Stage Manager’s role, Thornton Wilder can go back to the past and show what humans think of life. Wilder gets the main themes across to the audience by using the Stage Manager in various roles. As a philosopher in the play, the Stage Manager’s philosophies include subjects like daily life, love and marriage, and death. In one part of the play regarding daily life, the Stage Manager brings Emily back to real life. At the end of her journey she asks, “…D...