Penned by Thornton Wilder and Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner in 1942, THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH follows an archetypical American family as they journey from the ice age to the 1940s. Directed on Broadway by Elia Kazan, the original production starred Tallulah Bankhead, Frederic March, and Montgomery Clift (later joined by Vivien Leigh). An unruly, ambitious, and hilarious show, THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH introduces the 2024-25 “True Grit” season at A Noise Within.
Ensemble Cast – Photo by Craig Schwartz
The time spans a few millennia, and the place is everywhere. Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus (Frederick Stuart and Trisha Miller) live in Excelsior, New Jersey with their daughter Gladys (Mildred Marie Langford) and their son Henry (Christian Henley). Sabina (Ann Noble), a sprightly family maid, takes care of the house and adds her two cents whenever and wherever she can. The play begins at a very chilly time when dinosaurs roamed free and ice was steadily creeping south ready to swallow up the Antrobus abode. A whistle and click later, we find the Antrobuses ready to celebrate their 5000-year wedding anniversary (no clue about the right gift) on the Jersey shore. But beware! Floods will soon be coming, and an ark might prove useful. After all that, the Antrobus family eventually finds itself waking up from a seven-year war – with the daunting prospect of rebuilding everything all over again.
Frederick Stuart and Ann Noble – Photo by Craig Schwartz
Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, co-artistic directors, skillfully helm the time-bending, comic production with an eye to demonstrating the indomitable spirit of humanity. To quote Elliott: “It’s one of the most profound plays ever written about the human experience, and also one of the funniest…there are very few plays that are not only epic in scope, but also epically funny. It’s an extremely inspiring and moving comedy about one particular family, but also about the family of humanity.” Rodriguez-Elliott can’t resist adding, “It’s a roadmap to survival…this is a play that resonates most deeply at moments when it feels like we’re on the brink of destruction, and that things feel bleak…yet it’s incredibly optimistic, because it reminds us all that these are cycles we keep going through as human beings.”
Ensemble Cast – Photo by Craig Schwartz
For trivia lovers, Wilder’s play is a gold mine. The family name of Antrobus is lifted from the Greek Anthropos (human or person), while the play’s title comes from the King James Bible, Job 19:20: “My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.” There are other connections too numerous to be listed. Wilder also broke a few sacrosanct rules in this play. The third wall often disappears as different characters turn to and address the audience. The play even stops for a bit when some cast members become ill and are replaced by odd and sundry folks working on the set. But Wilder’s theme really comes home at the end of the play, when Sabina turns to the audience and lets them know that they now have the responsibility for continuing the action – or life.
Ensemble Cast – Photo by Craig Schwartz
The cast is talented, skilled, and experienced – and seem to be having some fun with the events in this play. The creative team includes scenic designer Frederica Nascimento, lighting designer Ken Booth, composer and sound designer Robert Oriol, costume designer Garry Lennon, and wig and make-up designer Tony Valdes. It is a pleasure to see this classic play performed again with such skill. THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH will appeal to most audiences, since it covers a lot of territory in three acts (revised into two by A Noise Within), including family, history, relationships, and lots and lots of philosophical intangibles.
Micah Schneider, Ann Noble, and Veronica McFarlane – Photo by Craig Schwartz
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH runs through September 29, 2024, with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. A Noise Within is located at 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107. Tickets start at $51.50 (students start at $20; discounts for groups of 10+). For information and reservations, call 626-356-3100 or go online.
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