THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH


It’s hard to imagine a finer revival of Thornton Wilder’s 20th-century American classic The Skin Of Our Teeth than the one now enrapturing audiences at A Noise Within.

Climate change, natural disasters, cataclysmic war, and a leading lady who steps out of character to inform the audience that she doesn’t understand a word of the play in which she’s appearing.

What must 1942 theatergoers have made of Wilder’s Greek Mythology-meets-The Bible-meets-Ancient History-inspired The Skin Of Our Teeth?

Characters may have broken the fourth wall as far back as Shakespeare, if not before, but I’m guessing none had ever declared point blank, “I hate this play and every word in it!”

Yet this is precisely what Antrobus family maid Sabina (Ann Noble) does only minutes after lights up, and if audiences have yet to decide whether they agree or not, an Announcer (a voice instantly recognizable to A Noise Within regulars) has already informed us that unprecedented August weather has brought a wall of ice south to Tippehatchee.

That’s the small Vermont town that George Antrobus (Frederick Stuart), inventor of the wheel, and his apron-inventing wife Maggie (Trisha Miller) call home, cuing us in from the get-go that this will be a far cry from the straightforward theatrical fare that preceded its early-WWII debut.

Add to that a teenage son (Christian Henley as Henry) originally named Cain, Henry’s frisky younger sister Gladys (Mildred Marie Langford), and a couple of prehistoric pets and you’ve got a family of Vermonters as atypical as they are all-American.

And just wait until Act Two takes the Antrobus clan to Atlantic City where end-of-the-world flood warnings have been issued, and Act Three has mother and daughter awaiting George and Henry’s return from combat abroad.

With the United States less than a year into World War II, The Skin Of Our Teeth’s message of hope in the face of calamity must have resonated with particular force back in 1942, though few could have imagined how relevant its themes would remain today.

Still, regardless of its serious undertones, The Skin Of Our Teeth is for most of its running time a comedy, as whimsical as it is a precursor of 1950s absurdist theater, and directed with abundant ingenuity and visual flair by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott and designed to imaginative perfection by a team of A Noise Within’s best.

L.A. stage treasure Noble reveals herself to be a screwball comedienne extraordinaire as the ditzy Sabina before later scenes allow her to once again reveal proven dramatic chops.

Stuart (a powerful, deeply felt Mr. Antrobus) and Miller (a gritty, steely Mrs. Antrobus) once again prove themselves two of ANW’s most gifted and versatile stars, the terrific Langford takes Gladys from apple-of-daddy’s-eye child to sexual-awakening-poised teen to war surviving young adult, and Henley delivers a bona fide breakout featured turn as problem child Henry, whose eleventh-hour confrontation with his father is a power-punching stunner.

Cassandra Marie Murphy deliciously reinvents the play’s Atlantic City Fortune Teller as a fur-clad, gravel-voiced Jersey matron and a once again fabulous Kasey Mahaffy gets to pop in from time to time as the play’s harried Stage Manager.

Amber Liekhus (an amusing Bingo Caller) and Anthony Adu (a frustrated Broadcast Official) add their talents to cameo roles as does Jacob Cherry, who deserves more than “Ensemble” billing for his perky Telegraph Boy, with Stella Bullock, Julia Chavez, Yannick Haynes, Veronica McFarlane, David A. Rangel, Landon M. Robinson, Micah Schneider, and Maya Sta. Ana completing the multitasking cast of eighteen.

And I could just as easily wax poetic about the eyes-and-ears-delighting design contributions of Frederica Nascimento (sets), Ken Booth (lighting), Garry Lennon (costumes), Stephen Taylor (properties), Tony Valdés (wigs and makeup), Nicholas Santiago (projections), and Robert Oriel (sound and original music).

Last but not least, this Our Skin Of Our Teeth has its cast (in particular Murphy and Liekhus) vocalizing to Rod Bagheri’s expert music direction.

Angela Sonner is stage manager and Hope Matthews is assistant stage manager. Miranda Johnson-Haddad is dramaturg.

Sasan Ahmed, Robyn Cohen, Janessa Floyd, Jahred King, Howard Leder, Joyce Lee, Maggie Elizabeth May, ReSheda D. Terry, and Cameron Varner are understudies.

Every bit as relevant as it was back in 1942, The Skin Of Our Teeth remains a timeless treasure of the American theater canon, and A Noise Within does it the absolute justice it deserves.

A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Blvd, Pasadena.
www.ANoiseWithin.org

–Steven Stanley
September 13, 2024
Photos: Craig Schwartz

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