The Thornton Wilder Society 2024: A Year in Review

The Thornton Wilder Society had an exciting 2024. Here are some highlights:

The Thornton Wilder Society had an eventful October in New York City. First, the Broadway revival of Our Town opened to rave reviews. Read The New York Times review for some of the high praise. Wilder Society members and friends then attended the October 13th matinee of Our Town and discussed the production afterward.

The following evening, October 14th, we gathered at Symphony Space in New York City for a celebration of the connection between New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett’s novel Tom Lake and the Pulitzer Prize–winning drama Our Town. Patchett and moderator Jeremy McCarter took the stage with members of the 2024 Broadway production, including director Kenny Leon, actor Jim Parsons, and more. Following the conversation and performances, Tappan Wilder and Jackson R. Bryer presented Patchett with the prestigious Thornton Wilder Prize. Photos from this event are by Sean Sime.

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We also held three Zoom Readings.

1. In March, Thornton Wilder Society members and enthusiasts gathered for a reading and discussion of Wilder’s 1930 short novel The Woman of Andros.
• “As always, I enjoyed discussing this book with everyone. Wilder’s beautiful writing and style is all here, and I appreciate his interest in the short novel, however on this re-read I found myself wishing certain areas of the book had been expanded…. but there’s a lot to love in here for a book so short, a lot of philosophical rumination and thoughtfulness.” — Shoshana Greenberg
2. In August, Thornton Wilder Society members and friends read two of The Seven Deadly Sins plays: “Wreck on the 5:25” (Sloth) and “Cement Hands” (Avarice) and we had a wonderful discussion afterward.
• “I was really struck by the discussion of modernity in these Wilder plays, both in terms of the setting, and in terms of the Albee-like style. Both plays have a style of dread for me, appropriate for plays about sin.” — BethAnn Cohen
3. And in December, Thornton Wilder Society members and enthusiasts gathered for our annual Zoom reading of The Long Christmas Dinner and Virtual Holiday Party.
• “I loved this annual experience as always. During the reading, for the first time I found myself thinking, ‘This is a play about grief.’ I had never thought that before and objectively I don’t know how true that statement is, but regardless I saw and felt the pain in this play more acutely than during any prior reading.” — Patrick Ganz

Be sure to join the Zoom Reading email list by emailing thorntonwildersociety@gmail.com to be the first to get the info on all the Zoom readings.

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Additionally, the ninth issue of the Thornton Wilder Journal was published. Volume 5 issue 1 is a special issue with most content based on Wilder’s previously unpublished play Villa Rhabani, which he wrote based on his year in Rome after graduating from Yale. In addition to the unfinished play manuscript, we have three articles related to Villa Rhabani and three interviews of theatre artists who were involved with the only production of the play in Naples in 2015.

For more information on the Journal, please visit our Journal page.

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We look forward to sharing Wilder with you in 2025!