photo by Tim Fuller
Sometimes life really is a cabaret, with Shannon Elise as the Showgirl out in front. When playwright Thornton Wilder imagines history, things can get rather kaleidoscopic.
If you feel like the future of democracy in the United States is riding on the election of our new President in November, hie thee quickly to The Rogue Theatre's production of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize winning “The Skin of Our Teeth.”
While we all know Wilder's 1938 play “Our Town” with its endearing feeling of Norman Rockwell-styled Americana, the richly symbolic “Skin of our Teeth” isn't anything like that – not even close. For one thing, this play takes a much longer view. Like, 600,000 years longer.
In real time, the play was first performed on Oct. 12, 1942, when Japan and Germany both seemed to be winning their wars against the United States. It was a cumulative historical setting, for sure, that also included the earlier World War I, as well as a deadly coast-to-coast pandemic followed by those long years of the Great Depression.
Back in 1942, Civilization's eminent collapse actually did seem plausible.
Wilder's tonic for the stressed-out spirit was an assertive call to arms with this frequently humorous theatrical reminder that, as bad as it may seem today, we've all been here before, facing the final curtain of ominous end times with a big smile plus a kick in the pants to get survival started. Again.
Filled with prescience in a banquet of possibilities, this rich allegory begins with references to the central characters Mr. Antrobus (Matt Walley) and Mrs. Antrobus (Carly Elizabeth Preston), their son Henry (Hunter Hnat) also called Cain who, in an earlier life, killed his older brother. Plus their family maid, Sabina (Chelsea Bowdren).
Along with such Biblical references, we also learn this little family enjoys having a playful dinosaur and a shaggy mammoth as domesticated house pets.
Though the cold-blooded critters wouldn't survive the ensuing Ice Age, humanity did survive and for its reward lived to fight a massive war with few survivors on either side.
While it would be several actual decades between the play's debut and the cinema opening of Hollywood's prophetic “Groundhog Day,” Wilder envisioned the similar prospect of a Groundhog Century, where hundred-year cycles kept repeating themselves. Survive. Improve. Conquer. Fight and Destroy.
Joseph McGrath is directing this production of the three-act play that Wilder generously filled with insights and quick-witted references. It's a brisk pace calling on one's own intellect to be a reliable reference.
In a true group effort, these four players are joined by a full team of eight more versatile cast members covering 19 additional roles. McGrath keeps this imaginary diorama of historic wins and losses rolling. While the jaunty plot might get a little confusing at times, just roll with the punches,,,,and the laughs.
“The Skin of our Teeth” continues through Sept. 29 at The Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University Blvd. Performances are approximately 2 ½ hours including a 10-minute intermission. Curtain is 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays.
Tickets are $47, with some discounts available. For details and reservations, www.theroguetheatre.org or telephone 520-551-2053
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