Skin of Our Teeth the perfect antidote for our time

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

The Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, opens in Rosebud Theatre’s Opera House, March 31.
“The Skin of Our Teeth is about climate change, refugees and the end of the world,” said director Morris Ertman. “And a family that survives it all by the skin of their teeth. The family survives the ice age. Then they survive the great flood. And then they survive a great war.”
Audience members might think the play is about what’s happening in the world right now, Ertman said, though it was actually written in the 1940s.
“All the mammals have come two-by-two from all over the world,” he said. “They’ve gathered and George Antrobus has been elected president of all the mammals. There are shades of Nixon in him, shades of John F Kennedy (and) shades of Donald Trump. And it’s just incredibly funny.”
The Skin of Our Teeth is “the perfect antidote to where we’re at,” he said. “This play will allow us to look at who we are in the middle of all of this. We’ll even laugh at ourselves for the things that are laughable. We’ll be able to go, ‘oh my,’ and maybe cry at the things that are cryable. But at the end of the day we’ll leave the theatre feeling hopeful, (saying) ‘You know, we’re going to get through this.’”
Although the play is about a “big crazy idea, it’s about us, about an ordinary family. Dad coming home from work, only he just happens to have invented the wheel. I love it because it celebrates family in all of its light, all of its good and all of its bad. And that there’s so much grace in this play, having to do with family,” Ertman said. “Mrs. Antrobus, the mom in the story, says some of the most profound things about what it is to be a woman. I love it because she also fights for marriage.”
The three lead roles are performed by “giants.” Jeany Snider plays Mrs. Antrobus and Heather Pattengale the “sassy” maid. Declan O’Reilly, who played George in Rosebud Theatre’s Tent Meeting last summer, will play George Antrobus. Justin Lanouette and Sarah Robertson, Rosebud School of the Arts’ students, play the children, Henry and Gladys. A 30-foot-long brontosaurus, managed by three puppeteers, will also appear in the show.
The Skin of Our Teeth plays in Rosebud’s Opera House, March 31 to June 3. Tickets include a meal, and are available at rosebudtheatre.com or 1-800-267-7553.
“In Rosebud, one of the things that we’re known for, is that we do plays that dig into people’s souls and hearts,” Ertman said. “You don’t have to have a particular belief system for that to happen. We just tell little stories and they’re pretty universal. And this one is one of the most amazing.”