'Our Town' told with eloquence Monday, October 22, 2001, page C5 By Paul Kolas TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER OUR TOWN: Written by Thornton Wilder, directed by Dave and Kathy Ludt. At Calliope Theatre, 150 Main St., Boylston. 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: Adults, $12; seniors and students, $10. With Mark Patrick, John Leslie, Joe Monfette, Matt Cogswell, Pat Delano, Kama DePatsy, Brennan Clark, Courtney Duffy, Jackson Davidow, Noelle Bonneau, Dave Bonneau, Dave Ludt, Seth Leary, Aimee Newell, Gene Brady and Richard Clark. BOYLSTON-- Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" may be the most grass-roots of all American plays, and in its simply unfolding eloquence, it feels like the changing of the seasons. Calliope Theatre's beautifully nuanced production is played out on a starkly designed stage setting with chairs and two tables, sans additional props, that somehow manages to convey the feel of a true generational epic. Not only that, but Wilder's look at early 1900s America through the eyes of two families in the fictional town of Grovers Corners, N.H., has a uniquely anthropological quaintness about it. Small-town America is seen through the eyes of the play's omniscient narrator, the Stage Manager, played with pitch-perfect, genteel charm by Mark Patrick. The story revolves around the Gibbs and the Webb families. Frank Gibbs is the town doctor, always seemingly out on house calls, while his wife Julia holds down the household fort. Their son George would rather play baseball than chop wood, something brought slyly to his attention by his father. Julia swaps town gossip with her neighbor Mrs. Webb, discussing such topics as minister Simon Stimson's drinking problem. Charles Webb runs the town newspaper, while daughter Emily is already casting an interested glance at George Gibbs. It's a town where 95 percent of the high school graduates still live, where one paper-delivery boy is succeeded by his younger brother, and where people exchange daily pleasantries on Main Street. This tableau is performed and directed with graceful economy in just over two hours. John Leslie is wonderful as Dr. Gibbs, whether he is conversing with his wife Julia, or having a man-to-man talk with son George about taking the woodcutting chores off his mother's already burdened back. Pat Delano and Kama DePatsy are marvelous as Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb, respectively, women of character and nobility. Brennan Clark underplays George Gibbs nicely, but the real star of this production is Noelle Bonneau as Emily Webb. She is astonishingly confident for someone so young, radiating an appeal that is truly heartfelt. Kudos also to Seth Leary as the drunken Simon Stimson, Dave Bonneau's hilarious turn as Professor Willard, and young Courtney Duffy as George's irascible but endearing younger sister Rebecca. Dave Ludt not only does a fine turn as Mr. Webb, but he and wife Kathy have directed the show with the right touch of elegiac affection, creating a lovely evening of theater. http://www.telegram.com/features/time_out/ourtown.html