Review | Katie Holmes and Jim Parsons lead an 'Our Town' take on the swing state

Invigorating classic texts with fresh electricity is a specialty of director Kenny Lyon, whose recent productions of “Topdog/Underdog” and “Pearly Victorious” crackled with timely insights on contemporary culture. Here, Leon does beautiful and evocative work to update everyday Americans as “our city” reflects. But broadening the definition of normal suggests that there is such a thing.

The salt-of-the-earth families in Grover's Corner are invariably there, and it's probably no small statement (as much as I wish it weren't) that one of them is black here. Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs (Billy Eugene Jones and Michelle Wilson) are the strict but friendly parents of George (Ephraim Sykes) and Rebecca (Safia Kaizia Harris). Their lives are mirrored next door, where Professor and Mrs. Webb (Richard Thomas and Katie Holmes) are raising Emily (Joey Deutch) and Wally (Hagan Oliveras).

Over the course of three acts (slightly trimmed here to run a shorter 1 hour 50 minute intermission), we see George and Emily fall in love, marry young, and realize how precious time was while it away. Sykes and especially Deutch do a sweet and charming job with tricky parts that see their age from school chums to young lovers. Led by Parsons' slightly cheeky but mostly matter-of-fact narrator, the cast strikes a delicate balance, lending a lively quality to characters who sometimes speak in gleeful tones. This is aided by emotional clarity, which Holmes and Wilson provide exceptionally well as the neighborhood mothers.

The population of Grover's Corner — population just over 2,500, majority lower-middle class, Protestant and Republican — could refer to any number of swing districts today. Although Wilder's description of the place remains unchanged, Leon has layered in the diversity in the casting and opens the show with a multifaith recital (known as the “Braided Prayer” by the Abraham Jam Group) that suggests a spiritual bond that transcends differences of faith.

The production's haunting and seductive design aims to overwhelm the senses. The wow factor comes from Ellen Lee Hughes' lighting, which includes a swirl of lanterns hanging from the high ceiling like a procession of ascending souls. The gray-washed wood of Beowulf Boritt's set evokes the weathered permanence of both Wilder's play and the human condition. You can even smell the heliotrope piped into the air conditioning.

Wilder's reminder of the transience of life will always pack a slug in the gut; You don't have to use or recognize any particular means to be struck by the inevitability of mortality. The mundane details that the play emphasizes are ultimately meant to strike us as the things of life we ​​have become foolish. But these accounts are still hopelessly tied to consistency—the refrain that “man is meant to pass through two lives” is just one example—which leaves a broader question unanswered.

Leon's staging is beautiful, but I found myself wanting A bold challenge to the concept of convention rather than an inclusive version of it. Why should the picture of a “typical American life” be so narrow? Why stuff with more types of people instead of pulling it apart? That's a job for other storytellers — whose rejection of rules will hopefully become new.

our cityJanuary 19 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York. 1 hour, 50 minutes without intermission. ourtownbroadway.com.