Performance:
May 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 at 7 PM, May 3 at 2 PM
 

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH

Pulitzer prize winning comedy/drama by Thornton Wilder – Three Acts

Directed by Dot Moore

Play Synopsis
The play tells the story of the human race, believe it or not, by placing one representative family in various times through the ages. The family is composed of Mr. & Mrs. Antrobus, their boy and girl, Henry (Cain) and Gladys, and their maid, Sabina. The first act occurs as the last ice age is happening, with a mammoth and a dinosaur, Homer, the 3 Muses, and others, coming on stage in retreat from the ice. Mr. Atrobus has just arrived home from his job of inventing the wheel and Mrs. Antrobus doesn’t want to let in the refugees he has brought with him– how can she find enough to feed them? The Antrobus children, Gladys and Henry (Cain) and the maid Sabina take everything in stride, except when Mrs. Antrobus tries to cover the mark on Henry’s forehead. The act ends with everyone (in pantomime) throwing the furniture on the imaginary fireplace to make warmth while the refugees quote wisdom from Mr. Antrobus’ prized books, which he wants to make sure are not burned. .

The second act takes place on the Atlantic City boardwalk (a backdrop) just before the flood. Mr. Antrobus is to address a convention of “the Ancient and Honorable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans.” However, he is proving hard to find, since he is probably “making out” with Sabina. Mrs. Antrobus busies herself with the children, and making sure imaginary animals enter the ark two by two. Throughout the play, as in many of Mr. Wilder’s plays, the actors, especially Sabina and a Stage Manager, often “break the 4th wall” of the stage by directly addressing the audience

The third act takes place “after the last war.” Henry turns out to have been the enemy. The setting is the same as the first act, except the walls are all leaning over as if blown up by the war, and Mrs. Antrobus, Gladys and her baby are hiding in a trap door under the stage. As the act proceeds, Sabina pulls on ropes and the walls return to their Act I positions. Mr. Antrobus confronts Henry, who has returned home. He is bitterly disappointed that his own son has fought against what he believes is important in the world. He decides, “what’s the use? – let’s just give up.” Mrs. Antrobus brings out the books she has saved for him despite the problems of the war. The lights come up behind the window in the back wall and we see Spinoza, Plato, Aristotle and Moses (the refugees of the first act) walking across the back quoting lines from their books. The play ends with Sabina addressing the audience (much as The Common Man did in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS) “The whole world’s at sixes and sevens, and why the house hasn’t fallen down about our ears long ago is a miracle to me. This is where you came in. We have to go on for ages and ages yet. You go home. The end of this play isn’t written yet. Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus - their heads are full of plans and they’re as confidant as the first day they began, - and they told me to tell you: good night.”

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I believe this play, written in 1942, has something to say to us today. It emphasizes that as much as life changes, despite all our problems, life goes on, we still keep trudging along, believing life will be better tomorrow.

When originally produced, it starred people like Sir Lawrence Olivier, Tallulah Bankhead, Vivien Leigh, Mary Martin, Frederick March, Montgomery Clift, and was directed by Elia Kazan. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1942 – a dark time in the history of the world, as WWII was just starting. It is also funny and ironic.
 

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Last modified:April 27, 2009