Exploring ‘The Last, Best Small Town’ with John Guerra
The playwright shares about the premiere of his play at Theatricum Botanicum.
Photo by Rebecca Aranda
Playwright John Guerra is set to have the world-premiere of his play The Last, Best Small Town at Theatricum Botanicum, opening this Saturday, July 31.
The Last, Best Small Town — which is a modern-day adaptation of the American classic Our Town by Thornton Wilder — tells the tale of two families, as they navigate personal, emotional, and financial difficulties.
Guerra took time to share with Players, Performers, & Portrayers a bit about his play, what inspired it, and why he thinks it will resonate with audiences today.
Can you tell us a bit about your play The Last, Best Small Town?
At its core, The Last, Best Small Town is about the limitations of the American Dream, and how those limitations affect people differently depending on a number of factors, such as: race, gender, economic class, age, geographic location, and time period. Over the course of the play we watch two families — one Latinx and one white — as they are forced to confront these different limitations on generational, familial, and personal levels as the financial crisis unfolds around them.
