Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In a game effort, Classic Stage Company stitches together Thornton Wilder’s unfinished THE EMPORIUM

• By drediman
• May 20, 2026
• No Comments

In a fascinating turn of events, you’ll find a production of Thornton Wilder‘s The Emporium at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company, where it officially opened earlier this week. Perhaps best known for penning Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth — both of which were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama — it was little known that Wilder had a third play up his sleeve that he hoped would follow in the successes of those two lauded earlier works. In development for about a decade, The Emporium unfortunately never saw completion as Wilder obsessively teased it out in his head. That is, until now. Shaped and stitched together in a game effort by playwright Kirk Lynn from Wilder’s voluminous manuscripts, the once “lost” play is now receiving its unlikely and long-awaited New York premiere.

Suffice to say, the play is a curious creation, and a Frankenstein monster of sorts. In short, it tells the story of one John, an orphan who makes the trek to the big city to work at The Emporium, a storied department store that many people strive to be employed by but are ultimately thwarted when they’re stumped by the murky-at-best application process. The performance begins with the acknowledgment of the aforementioned circumstances behind the play’s current presentation, a meta-theatrical gesture that in itself feels Wilder-esque. In comparison to the playwright’s other theatrical works, the play exudes the narrative flamboyance, swirling symbolism, and the notion of cyclicality of The Skin of Our Teeth more than it does the affecting and restrained austerity of Our Town. Indeed, The Emporium is filled with metaphors and hidden meanings, and its surreal world-building may take some viewers time to acclimate to before they fully tune into the work. Audience interaction is also prominently featured in the play — at one point, the audience is asked to vote on whether they want to see a “prologue” to kick off the second act to lay out and unlock the work’s central mysteries (e.g., what does The Emporium represent?; no spoilers here!).

As firmly directed by Rob Melrose, the play unfolds in an inevitable series of scenes that churn you out, unsurprisingly, where you started. A part of me, however, wished the production — which is dominated by a set designer Walt Spangler’s “The Emporium” signage — featured more of the free-wheeling chaos of The Skin of Our Teeth and/or the immersive gusto of Rupert Holmes’ musical adaptation of another unfinished work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which really leans in on breaking the fourth wall. Led by an ideal Everyman performance by Patrick Kerr as John, the production also features a slew of carefully calibrated portrayals by veteran stage actors in multiple roles that impressively make it seem like the staging is more teeming than it actually is. Despite my slight reservations about the piece — I by no means had a bad time at the show — The Emporium is nevertheless a welcome addition to Wilder’s theatrical output, and well worth checking out.

RECOMMENDED

THE EMPORIUM
Off-Broadway, Play
Classic Stage Company
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through June 7