Compton, California, is a long way from Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. And not just geographically. Compton is a town of mostly poor blacks and Mexicans, best known for gangsta rap and high crime rates, as captured in movies like “Boyz N the Hood” and “Straight Out of Compton.” It’s not a place many people visit willingly. Grover’s Corners, on the other hand, doesn’t even exist. Yet people constantly revisit the prosperous, Protestant, all-white town that Thornton Wilder created in his play, “Our Town.”
It is still one of the most frequently produced plays in America. But it seemed an odd choice for Dominguez High, the Compton school where there are riots at the senior prom and most students don’t have a father figure in their lives. When Compton becomes “OT: our town.”
For information about showtimes and to buy a DVD, call 866-YES-FILM
Guests:
Catherine Borek, English teacher, Dominquez High School, Compton, California
Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Producer-Director, “OT: our town”
Ebony Starr Norwood-Brown, who plays the Stage Manager and herself in the documentary “OT: our town.”