Events Calendar
|
Latest Issue
|
Membership
|
Log In Sign Up
  • Play

    Play

    • A Beginner’s Guide to Soccer
    • You Spin Me Right Round: D.C. Roller Skating 101 in 2021
    • Leading the League: The WNBA’s Natasha Cloud on Breaking Barriers + Inspiring D.C.
    • Spring Has Sprung: 10 Ways To Get Outside in the DMV
    • Play Week Combines Games + Social Impact
    • High and Go Seek Illustration
    • O Captain, My Captain: Washington Spirit’s Andi Sullivan
  • Life

    Life

    • Local Entrepreneurs Infuse CBD into Wellness
    • 19 Entrepreneurs Shaping D.C.’s Cannabis + CBD Industries
    • Upcycling in D.C.: Transforming a Culture of Consumption
    • The Green Issue: Experts + Advocates Make Case for Cannabis Legalization + Decriminalization
    • The District Derp Story
    • Grassfed Media Champions Cannabis Clients
    • Nat Geo Explorer Gabrielle Corradino on Plankton, the Anacostia + Conservation
  • Eat

    Eat

    • The State of Takeout in the District
    • A New Twist on Food Delivery: MisenBox
    • Next-Level Home Dining Experiences in D.C.
    • Foxtrot Market Is Officially Open for Business in Georgetown
    • Food Rescue + Assistance Programs Fill the Gaps in a Pandemic Food System
    • Hungry Harvest Helps to End Food Insecurity
    • Notable Summer Bar + Restaurant Reopenings to Try this Spring
  • Drink

    Drink

    • Pandemic Drinking: Derek Brown Leads the Way to Low-ABV Future
    • D.C.’s St. Vincent Wine Creates Covid-Conscious Experience
    • A New Way to Binge: Sobriety Anchors Business + Being for Gigi Arandid
    • King’s Ransom + The Handover in Alexandria Celebrate a First Year Like No Other
    • Wines of the World Are Just Around the Corner
    • Open-Air Drinking + Cocktail Delivery Changes in the DMV
    • Denizens Brewing Co.’s Emily Bruno: Brewing Change for Community + Industry
  • Culture

    Culture

    • The Artistry Behind D.C.’s Cannabis Culture
    • The Best Movies of 2021…So Far
    • The Survival of the Brutalist: D.C.’s Complicated Concrete Legacy
    • Plain Sight: A Street-Front Revolution in Radical Arts Accessibility
    • A Touch of Danger in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Romeo & Juliet”
    • Artgence + Homme: Where There’s Art, There’s a Story to Share
    • 21 D.C. Makers + Curators to Follow
  • Music

    Music

    • Emma G Talks Wammie Nominations and the D.C. Music Community
    • J’Nai Bridges: A Modern Mezzo-Soprano in a Changing Opera Landscape
    • Punk Legends The Go-Go’s Talk Four Decades of Sisterhood, Resilience + Zero Fucks Given
    • Ellen Reid “Soundwalk:” Exploring the Sonic Landscape at Wolf Trap
    • SHAED Releases First Full-Length Album in a “High Dive” of Faith
    • Obama + Springsteen Present “Renegades”
    • Christian Douglas Uses His “Inside Voice” on Pandemic-Inspired Debut Album
  • Events

    Events

    • Play Week 4.17-4.25
    • Midnight at The Never Get 4.30-6.21
    • Cannabis City Panel Presented by BĀkT DC + District Fray
    • Browse Events
    • DC Polo Society Summer Sundays 5.9
    • National Cannabis Festival’s Dazed & Amused Drive-In Party
    • Vinyl + Vinyasa 4.30
  • Log In
    Sign Up

Log In Sign Up
Radar: Things To Do in D.C. This Week
Riff Raff’s Jon Schott Talks Balance On + Off the Menu
Off the Mall: The DEA Museum
Two book covers: "Leg" and "Up to Speed."
Reading List: People’s Book
Mutt + Run: Exercise with D.C. Shelter Dogs
Photo Gallery: Young Prose Nights for “King Lear”
Home » Articles » Culture » The Skin of our Teeth: quirky play a story for the times

Culture

Photo: Daniel Schwartz

The Skin of our Teeth: quirky play a story for the times

Share:

January 17, 2018 @ 12:00am | Natalia Kolenko

With a whirlwind of huge time jumps, religious allegory and actor-audience interaction, The Skin of Our Teeth is one of those plays that keep you thinking long after the curtain has closed and everyone has gone home. And while I still find it hard to put into words what the story means on a personal level, I am certain that this is a play with a message that could not be better suited for the times. Running at Constellation Theatre until February 11, The Skin of Our Teeth was written by Thornton Wilder and has been directed by Helen Hayes award winner Mary Hall Surface for this production.

The play follows the story of the Antrobus family—husband George (Steven Carpenter), wife Maggie (Lolita Marie), children Henry (Dallas Tolentino) and Gladys (Malinda Kathleen Reese) and their maid Sabina (the fantastic Tonya Beckman)—in good times and bad and across vast time shifts. And I mean vast—the scenes range from the beginning of an Ice Age, to the Atlantic City boardwalk to a post-apocalyptic bomb shelter.

How can these times all be connected? Well the Antrobus’s are very old… George and Maggie have been married for 5,000 years to be exact. But they are simply your average family living in a New Jersey suburb, managing to survive all these Earth-altering events by… wait for it… the skin of their teeth.

And despite an unusual storyline and being written by Wilder almost 80 years ago, certain elements of the story may as well have been written for our modern era. Quotes from Maggie could be said by today’s feminists: “I have a letter…and in the letter is written all the things that a woman knows. It’s never been told to any man and it’s never been told to any woman, and if it finds its destination, a new time will come. We’re not what books and plays say we are. We’re not what advertisements say we are.”

Other’s talk about how in times of hardship, we must go on no matter what: “Do I have to explain to you what everybody else already knows – everybody who keeps a home going? Do I have to say what nobody should ever have to say, because they can read it in each other’s eyes? Now listen to me: I could live for seventy years in a cellar making soup out of grass and bark, without ever doubting that this world has work to do and will do it?”

While somewhat of a challenge to describe on paper, The Skin of Our Teeth adds up in person and is truly a funny, moving story that proves just how much the human spirit can endure. Constellation Theatre’s Source Theatre proved a great stage to host the show as its semi-circular stage allowed for wonderfully unique set designs and an intimate setting let the audience experience the full impact of emotions flowing across the stage. The unique characters and wildly imaginative storyline will truly stay with you long after the play is over, and as Sabina says to the audience at the end, the show doesn’t end with the curtain call; we have a long way to go and the end hasn’t been written yet.

Catch The Skin of Our Teeth at the Constellation Theatre Company’s Source Theatre, running through February 11, 2018. Learn more here.

Constellation Theatre Company’s Source Theatre: 1835 14th St. NW, DC; 202-204-7741; www.constellationtheatre.org

Share:

Related Articles

No Articles

DISTRICT FRAY MEMBERSHIPS

District Fray members receive unlimited access to our digital content, including new articles published daily. We also have membership options available for locals interested in our print magazine, member events, or first-access tickets and giveaways.

Join Today
COMPANY
About United Fray Team Hiring: Join Our Team!
GET INVOLVED
Become A Member 2023 Media Kit 2023 Editorial Calendar Corporate Wellness Contact: Media Pitches + Advertising Inquiries
EXPLORE
Eat Drink Music Culture Life Play Events Calendar
OUR CITIES
Washington D.C. Jacksonville Phoenix
Subscribe

By clicking submit, you agree to receive emails from District Fray and accept our web terms of use and privacy and cookie policy.

© 2023 District Fray.