The Skin of Our Teeth (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Rating:
Summary: "The Antrobuses--your hope, your despair, yourselves."
Review: Ignoring the conventions of time, this playful "message play," directed by Jack O'Brien, studies one family from the days of the glaciers and dinosaurs to a post-apocalyptic, modern world. George Antrobus (Harold Gould), the inventor of the wheel, and Maggie (Sada Thompson), his wife, the inventor of the apron, have two children, Gladys and Henry (who was previously called Cain). Sabina (Blair Brown), the flirtatious maid, acts as the initial guide to the characters and action, commenting on their interactions. As the play progresses through the eras, author Thornton Wilder raises questions about civilization and values. George, by Act II, is convinced that the world is made for pleasure and power, but in the final act, after a modern world cataclysm, the family confronts what is truly important in their lives.

The principal actors have, among them, won twenty-two Emmy nominations and twelve Golden Globe nominations, and they certainly live up to their billing here in this 1983 production, as they present their over-the-top characterizations, accentuated by exaggerated gestures and often eye-catching costuming. Harold Gould, as George, is hilarious as the overwhelmed father of the family. Blair Brown is as seductive a housemaid as her abbreviated costumes suggest she would be, and Sada Thompson in dowdy dress is motherly and thoughtful. Academy Award winner John Houseman, in a cameo role as a buttoned-up newscaster, could not be more formal, and the satiric fortune-teller, Rue McLanahan, is full of droll humor.

Giving additional visual impact to the play are a pet dinosaur and a wooly mammoth, a beauty pageant on the Boardwalk of New Jersey, a convention of the fraternal Order of Mammals, and several attempted seductions by predatory women. The play takes liberties with the audience as the various actors step out of character to address them, as does the director. By including the audience in the action, the author reminds them that they are also part of the conclusion and the resolution.

First produced in 1942, the play reflects Wilder's fear that the war then engulfing the world might truly be a war for the future of civilization. His conclusion, which highlights the values of western philosophers, such as Spinoza, Aristotle, and Plato, also incorporates his religious beliefs and his belief in the enduring values of (western) literature. "We've come a long way--we're learning," he says, hopefully, but he also reminds us that "the end of this play isn't written yet." Creative and original in its day, the play represents a major moment in American theater. Mary Whipple



Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Wonderful! My favorite play. And a great performance from some very underrated actresses and actors.