Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful set of plays.
Review: I had never heard of Thornton Wilder or his work when I got tickets to see Our Town ten years ago in London. In short, I though that the play was wonderful and ordered the book - which happened to be the 3 play edition. I though all three plays were inspired. After Our Town, my next favourite is The Skin of Our Teeth. Our Town will always be my favourite play of Wilder's. It is so moving and I love the era that it is set in.
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Summary: "The Skin of Our Teeth" is an amazing play!
Review: I just saw the revival of "The Skin of Our Teeth" for free as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, and I can't begin to tell you how extraordinary it was! I immediately ran out and bought the play, in this edition of "3 Plays," and hearing it again in my head, I'm convinced that this is one of the best American plays I've ever come across. It is crazy and funny and complex; it reaches the heart and asks profound questions, from the meaning of life to the boundaries of theatre. Depicting the resilience and perseverance of the Antrobus family, who, along with their maid Sabina (a great, great part), represent all of humanity, "The Skin of Our Teeth" reminds us that, in spite of war and flood and all misery, "we have to go on for ages and ages yet." An awesome play.
Rating: 
Summary: American classics which scratch beneath the surface...
Review: It's hard to imagine that there's a soul out there who hasn't come across at least one of these plays in the course of public education or personal reading, but if you haven't then you should at least give them a chance and take a look. Plays aren't everyone's idea of pleasure reading, but this collection of Wilder's best-known three are among the best-known one-act plays in the American collection. Drawing at will upon the comic and the tragic -- often in the same breath -- Wilder's plays might have prompted the slogan of the recent (and acclaimed) "American Beauty", which implored viewers to "look closer." These three plays are good discussion pieces, palatable introductions to American theater, and insightful explorations into the potential of the theatrical medium.A little more info on two of the three: OUR TOWN happens to have been one of the first plays I ever actually studied in a drama class, and I have particularly fond memories of blustering through the part of Mr. Webb in our dramatic reading. The play, which focuses on the lives of the simple townsfolk in Grovers' Corner, New Hampshire, a dry New England town, begins with an observation of the daily lives of the townsfolk. In the second act, it goes on to portray the romance which develops between George Gibbs and Emily Webb, the young lovers who consummate their feelings in marriage at the end of the act. And in the third act, after Emily dies, she finds herself among the mourners at her own wake. Taken as a whole, Our Town shows the reactions of the austere New Englanders to all possible situations -- they are brought to life, portrayed in times of happiness, grief, and peaceful quiet. In addition, Wilder uses the play to make a statement about the futility of living in the past, and forcing the audience to deal with the concept that just like a show, life must go on. In the end, he says, truth can only be found in the future, which it is still in our power to influence and change. Our lives are our own to live, and we must learn to set our own course while we still can. (Of particular interest in this script is the role of the "Stage Manager", who both interacts with the characters and serves as a quasi-omniscient narrator. I think the idea of having a character exist on multiple planes might have been a Thornton first, at least in some regards.) THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH is a little bit stranger and more avant garde. In a script unlike anything else that Wilder has ever written (to the best of my knowledge), the audience is presented with a detached look at man's natural reaction to crisis and stress. The play focuses around the Antrobus family, simple representatives of the every family, but with a few significant quirks -- the characters seem to be updated (or perhaps reincarnated) versions of the first family -- Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel -- and refuse to establish a consistent setting. Simultaneously set in the prehistoric Ice Age and on the boardwalks of Atlantic City (and by simultaneously I mean that there is no differentiation between the two), and paying no particular attention to the linear laws of time or space, the play draws upon so many stage and literary devices that it eventually makes the head spin. In a particularly powerful conclusion, the play comes entirely round circle, ending with the same lines on which it began, and implying that the entire cycle is about to repeat itself. And that is exactly the point Wilder was getting at in this bizarre and avant garde production -- no matter how much we change, as we evolve from cave-dwellers to farmers to civilized ladies and gentlemen, the more we stay the same. Our features change, but our natures do not. Both a confusing and intensely powerful piece of dramatic scripting, this play is worth reading at least twice. (To the credit of this script, I remember getting chills just reading it to myself for the first time, during certain climactic scenes.) As for THE MATCHMAKER... I'm not as familiar with it, but I know it's a popular comic script for amateur theater troupes, and served as the basis for the musical comedy "Hello Dolly", in which a widowed matchmaker decides to take a second husband, and tricks him into proposing to her by making a show out of setting him up with another woman. Clever, but not as experimental as the other two... All in all, this is a collection of plays that should be read at least once, if only so that you can say you didn't care for them. There's a lot here, and Wilder was a master of the short script, and a pioneer in American theater. Give it a shot -- check it out from your library if you're dubious about purchasing scripts you haven't read -- and see what you think,
Rating:
Summary: Please read slowly
Review: Probably the most misread work since the Bible. These are great little plays, but for some reason anything that gets so thoroughly co-opted into popular culture (as these oft performed plays are) loses all literary value. I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't seen the Kirk Cameron/ Growing Pains production of Our Town already to read these. This collection is a wonderful exposition on the human condition. I was giddy for a week after first reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Classics that are deserving of the term
Review: Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town both were prize-winning plays. The Matchmaker became one of the most popular musicals of all time - Hello Dolly. Thornton Wilder's plays are in production at countless high schools across the country, and that's a pity - few students have the maturity or insight to bring these words strongly to life. Skin of Our Teeth, the story of the Antrobus family in stone age Atlantic City, NJ, deals with indomitable humanity, and how we can prevail against all odds, but especially against our own impulses. It also brings up the consolations of literature and of past times. Our Town is a simple little play about love and death, and how life is composed as a series of moments. It is so important to live in every, every, moment. The Matchmaker is about living life to the fullest, even in the midst of grief and aging. This makes these plays sound dreadfully simplistic, and full of high-school style morality. Thornton Wilder's writing is full of irony, wit, grace, kind humor, and style. His writing has a deceptive simplicity and rhythm. Read these plays to bring some beauty into your life.
Rating:
Summary: Classics that are deserving of the term
Review: Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town both were prize-winning plays. The Matchmaker became one of the most popular musicals of all time - Hello Dolly. Thornton Wilder's plays are in production at countless high schools across the country, and that's a pity - few students have the maturity or insight to bring these words strongly to life. Skin of Our Teeth, the story of the Antrobus family in stone age Atlantic City, NJ, deals with indomitable humanity, and how we can prevail against all odds, but especially against our own impulses. It also brings up the consolations of literature and of past times. Our Town is a simple little play about love and death, and how life is composed as a series of moments. It is so important to live in every, every, moment. The Matchmaker is about living life to the fullest, even in the midst of grief and aging. This makes these plays sound dreadfully simplistic, and full of high-school style morality. Thornton Wilder's writing is full of irony, wit, grace, kind humor, and style. His writing has a deceptive simplicity and rhythm. Read these plays to bring some beauty into your life.
Rating: 
Summary: skin of our teeth
Review: Strange but odd play at the end of Skin fo Our Teeth. a quick rerad and worth a look
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Read
Review: This book is another one of those someone else is in control of you books. If you are forced to read it I have mercy on your soul because you will die the same fate I did. Spend your time doing better things go see Titan A.E.
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Summary: Three of the ABSOLUTE best plays......EVER. A must read!
Review: Thornton Wilder is a true playwrite. Passion pours from his every word. I can't seem to get enough!
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Summary: Anyone searching for some good plays?
Review: Thorton Wilder is one of the best playrights of his generation. This book brings together three of his best plays. "Our Town" which is a play centered around one town, and the way life can change within it. "the Skin of Our Teeth", which centers around one family that is going through all the changes that have ever happened in the world, including the ice age, world war 2, the depression, and so on. And finally "the Matchmaker" which is not the best play, but is still worth reading. Thorton Wilder does an amazing job with character developments and sub-plots, and these three plays really show his genius.
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