What does a town in California credited with the birth of gangsta rap have to do with a small town in New Hampshire? Probably not much. Take a high school student from either location and plop them down in the other, and they would be much more than a fish out of water. However, as students from the California town learn about a world outside of their place and time, they also learn something about themselves.

In Compton, California, students at an Dominguez High School, an inner-city school, produce a play for the first time in more than 20 years. The play chosen by their English teacher is Thornton Wilder's Our Town. They have no money, no stage, and no theater.

The school is made up mostly of minorities. There are African-Americans, Mexicans, "School Spirit" is unknown to them, except for the basketball team. Beginning with the audition process, the audience gets to know the students and see that they are more than the stereotypes people often think of. With the play as the backdrop, the students open up about many aspects of their lives and it’s easy to see that in many ways they aren’t so different from students in a small town in New Hampshire.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy, the Director of OT: Our Town contrasts a traditional presentation of the play, with white actors depicting the townsfolk of the small town of Grover’s Corner, NH with the minority students of the school. This is interesting especially in light of the differences between the students and what is represented in this play. The students want to change the play so that it represents them without descending into stereotypes. It shows how important extra-curricular activities really are, giving the students an outlet for their creativity and talent, as well as a purpose.

For those who dismiss “the younger generation” because of the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, or a variety of other reasons, OT: Our Town serves as a wake-up call. The students are candid when they talk and show how their situation has affected them, bit the way they have been marginalized and mostly forgotten or dismissed by society as well as just how intelligent they really are. Kennedy also goes into their homes, showing their lives and how many of them don’t fit the stereotype of what many of us figure an inner-city home is like. The parents aren’t all on drugs and they aren’t living in squalor. They are very proud of what they do have and accomplish, and perhaps appreciate things a lot more than kids who are better off.

There are some nice extra features on the disc, including information on what happened to many of the students after the play and film were over. Some of the actors who appeared in earlier versions of the play talk about what they thought of the students presentation of the play. Hal Holbrook actually visited the school and met with students.

This film won many awards at film festivals throughout the country, despite the fact that you’ve probably never heard of it.

Anyone who doesn’t think extra-curricular activities are important in schools, particularly some of the arts programs, should watch OT: Our Town. It might just change your mind. For the rest of us, it’s inspirational to see what determined students can accomplish even when the odds are stacked against them.



SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Commentary with Director Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Teacher Catherine Borek & "Stage Manager" Ebony Starr Norwood-Brown
• Biographies/Where Are They Now?
• Additional Footage
• Trailer
• Previews from FilmMovement.com


© 2008 Patti Aliventi

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD