The Butler Little Theatre is bringing Thornton Wilder's “Our Town” to our town. The show opens May 10 at the BLT at One Howard St. and is being directed by Jeff Carey.

Written in 1938, “Our Town” tells the story of a fictional American small town in New Hampshire.

It is staged in three parts and uses a narrator to move the story along.

The unique staging makes for an interesting theater experience for actors and audience alike. It was first staged in Princeton, N.J., and then on Broadway where it won critical acclaim and awards.

The role of the stage manager is being played by John C.R. Silbert of Zelienople. As his day job, he helps serve as pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in downtown Butler and is an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University.

“The stage manager has a bit of a God's-eye view of what takes place in and around the town of Grovers Corners, N.H.,” Silbert said.

Silbert, new to the Butler theater scene, thought of this role as a bucket list role of sorts.

“I loved this play from the first time I read it as a student and in seeing it performed a number of times,” he said.

Having vacationed in New Hampshire, Silbert brings a bit of that experience to the role.

“I am bringing to the stage manager role a love for good stories told in great language expressed, and a keen ear for the sound of the New Hampshire I have known all my life,” he said.

His appreciation for a good story makes this playwright a joy to perform, he said. “Thornton Wilder is a great storyteller who raises important questions about life, love and death through his characters without pat answers or clichés,” said Silbert.

Also new to the BLT stage is Daniel Scheller of Chicora, who works as custom framing manager at Michael's arts and crafts store. He will be playing the role of Mr. Webb.

Scheller describes Webb as a loving husband and father as well as the editor of the Grovers Corners Sentinel.

“Mr. Webb has a fun and goofy streak in him that shows throughout the play,” Scheller added.

Though new to the BLT, Scheller has appeared in musicals before, most recently in the ensemble for “Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Musical” with the Musical Theatre Guild of Butler in 2017.

Playing the role of his wife, Mrs. Webb, is Ariana O'Donnell of Butler Township.

O'Donnell described her character as “a dutiful mother and wife with a mind of her own.

“She loves her family to no end, but leans toward the side of practicality versus the frivolities of life,” she said.

The type of acting called for in this production is a bit unique.

“The big thing about 'Our Town' is that the story telling is very largely shown through pantomime. The mothers, especially, have to pantomime every time we enter the scene. If anything, it is challenging to pantomime daily actions, and make every action clear and concise without props,” said O'Donnell.

Playing the Webbs' daughter Emily is Taryn Pfeifer, a fine arts major at Butler County Community College.

“I relate to Emily when she says that all she wants is someone to love her. I think we all want to feel cared for and, in many regards, chosen,” said Pfeifer, who sees the play as a metaphor for life and the human condition.

“Every human is so stuck in their own head with fears and repetitive doubts that we never look up to experience the present we are given ... the present,” she added.

Danielle Jacobson of Portersville is portraying the other mother, Mrs. Gibbs.

“She is a kind-hearted, caring mother and wife. She works hard to care for her family, but is also looking for more out of life,” Jacobson said.

“Even though it takes place in the early 1900s, every theme is so relevant today, and it has a message that is timeless,” she added.

Jacobson works in corporate training and development and has a two-hour commute that she uses to rehearse her lines, she said.

Kevin Pritts of Muddy Creek Township returns to the BLT for the first time since 2006, here in the role of Dr. Gibbs.

“He is very down-to-earth. He has a good mix of seriousness and lightheartedness,” said Pritts. “This is the largest role I've ever had in a play. Everyone has been preparing well for the play, and it is coming together nicely,” he said.

A cast change will now see Luke Pfeifer in the role of the Gibbs' son George, an all-American small town teenager, and Jim Brenneman will now play the role of Sam Craig.

The show also features a sizable cast of other local actors.

WHO: Butler Little TheatreWHAT: “Our Town”WHEN: May 10 to 18, at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and ThursdayWHERE: BLT, One Howard St.TICKETS: $13 online at www.bltgroup.org or at the door 45 minutes prior to curtain.