'The Skin of Our Teeth'

"The Skin of Our Teeth," the Pulitzer Prize-winning tribute to the indestructibility of the human race by Thornton Wilder, opens on the beautiful outdoor stage at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum on Saturday, July 13, where performances continue through Sept. 29.
"The Skin of Our Teeth" is a satirical testimonial to the dogged determination of human beings to hang in there against all odds. Wilder masterfully looks ahead to the future of humanity, while at the same time compounding its entire history. A seemingly average American family — Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus (Mark Lewis and Melora Marshall), their son and daughter (William Holbrook and Gabrielle Beauvais) and the maid, Sabina (Willow Geer) — must learn to navigate the Ice Age, Biblical times, the invention of the wheel, ancient Greece, the Great War, even a beauty pageant in Atlantic City. Their experiences represent the range of human potential — for genius, love, envy, betrayal, destruction and, most importantly, survival. As they continue to live and rebuild in the face of adversity, they are proof, as Mr. Antrobus says, that "living is struggle."
"This play is about us, today," notes director Ellen Geer. "The Antrobuses are refugees of the Ice Age (climate change), of Noah's Flood (record-breaking, weather-related calamities and fires), and of war (which never seems to cease). Wilder said of his play, 'It is most potent in times of crisis.' Theatricum is mounting it for the third time — so I guess we are at another time of crisis, and plan to survive and land on our feet, just like the Antrobus family."
The Theatricum cast also features company members Jonathan Blandino as the announcer and Earnestine Phillips as the fortune teller. The ensemble includes Dylan Booth, John Brahan, Matthew Domenico, Colin Guthrie, Margaret Kelly, Edison Lobos, Shane McDermott, Matthew Pardue, Dante Ryan, Gina Shansey, Sky Wahl,Isaac Wilkins and Woan Ni Wooi. Costume design is by Holly Hawk, lighting design is by Zach Moore, sound design is by Grant Escandón, the prop masters are Danté Carr and Sydney Russell, and creature creation is by Puppet Time. Kim Cameron is the production stage manager.
Written in 1942, largely in response to U.S. involvement in WWII, Wilder's play was meant partly to assuage our fears of worldwide destruction brought on by war. It opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre and was an immediate smash hit, winning the 1943 Pulitzer Prize (Wilder's third, after "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" and "Our Town"). Directed by Elia Kazan, it starred Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Tallulah Bankhead and Montgomery Clift. Just as he did several years earlier with Our Town, Wilder again stretched the bounds of theatrical convention. Elia Kazan wrote in his autobiography "A Life," "Many of the audience were mystified ... but [that] reaction became part of the talk that made the play immediately famous."