OUR TOWN Q&A with Jere Williams (playing Constable Warren and Joe Stoddard)
1. What birthday would you most like to re-live, and why?
My most recent one, just a few weeks ago. My partner surprised me with a trip to Europe that included stops in Brussels, Bruge and Paris. I had instructions to fly to London, where he met me at the airport and, after a couple of days in the UK, we took the Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel to Brussels. I hadn't been to continental Europe before, unless you count a trip to Spain with my high school Spanish class, so it was all an adventure for me. After running around Brussels for a couple of days, and eating our share of crepes and gaufres (the local word for what we call Belgian waffles), we headed to Bruges, a picturesque village in western Belgium. We were there for only a day, but had a marvelous time walking around the quaint shops and eating a lot of chocolate. Then it was off to Paris on a high speed TGV train. My actual birthday was spent meandering around the Paris Opera, the most beautiful theater I've ever been in, and going up the Eiffel Tower. The next surprise was a dinner party with lots of friends, old and new. Other highlights of the trip included a day at Versailles and then another day bumming around the countryside around Fontainebleau. After that, another couple of days in London before returning home to start rehearsals for OUR TOWN. It was just a perfect trip and a magnificent way to spend my birthday.2. Of all the occupations in Grover's Corners, which would you most like to attempt?
I play two characters: Joe Stoddard, who loves his job as town undertaker, and Bill Warren, who is bored to death with his job as policeman in a small town with no crime. I can relate to both. There's nothing I love more than when I'm working on a play. And there's nothing that bores me quite so much as my day job in an office. Of course, at my day job, I'm bored with everything I have to do, while Bill is bored because he has nothing to do. I'm tempted to say I'd give Bill's job a whirl, because it's fun to envision what I might do with an unlimited amount of free time. I might be able to actually keep my apartment clean and read half the books I'm always saying I'd like to get to, if only I had the time. But, with my luck, the moment I took the job, Grover's Corners would be revealed to be the headquarters of the New England mob or an international espionage organization and I would be charged with single-handedly taking down the vaguely European-accented villains in my own version of DIE HARD or a Bond flick. This would not bode well for Grover's Corners, although I imagine the ladies of the neighborhood would enjoy gossiping about all the damage I'd caused to the Congregational Church and Mr. Morgan's drugstore (probably this is the reason why Mr. Morgan had to change it). In reality, I'd much rather take a turn at being the editor of a small town newspaper that only comes out twice a week. The pressure seems low, and you get to know everything that's going on. And you still get to be there for your family every day. Editor Webb seems to have the best deal in town.
3. You're sitting in Mr. Morgan's drugstore. What would you order for an old-time-y treat?
I'd order a hot fudge sundae and a phosphate. Probably lemon, rather than strawberry, if Mr. Morgan had it. I can think of no better way to spend a bit of time, than having some real, hand-made ice cream with all the trimmings and a cold beverage, watching the world go by for a bit.
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