The Skin of Our Teeth Offers an Absurd Commentary on Humanity
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Image courtesy of hillpix.
By Bryan Kotlar
From the Ice Age to the Atlantic City boardwalk, the Rome School of Performing Arts recently took audiences on a chaotic, but also comedic and deeply human journey across time and space.
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1942 play, The Skin of Our Teeth, was performed in the Hartke Theatre from February 26 to March 1, offering a three-part allegory about the life of mankind centered around the Antrobus family in the fictional town of Excelsior, New Jersey, with a couple biblical references sprinkled throughout the play.
The play opened with the family maid, Sabina (Grazia Saporito), explaining the story as she introduced the characters directly to the audience. The crowd was introduced to the Antrobus family, a”perfect” American suburban family of the early 1940s. In Wilder’s work, the characters often step out of the play to discuss the difficulties of producing the play. This emphasizes the struggle for survival is not just a historical concept, since it is happening in the theatre at that very moment.
“My favorite part about playing Sabina was understanding her complex language. She’d give her notice and then she’d take it back when things were going fine. There were times through her that she wouldn’t understand herself, but she would follow any impulses she felt,” senior acting major Grazia Saporito remarked. “The biggest thing I’ve learned from the show is that you can always learn that language later, but enjoy the moment of creating and discovering the character and the world of the show. I just had fun figuring out Sabina’s voice, her idiosyncrasies, and tactics she plays through moments to get what she wants.”
Mr. George Antrobus (Jacob Werner) is the patriarch and symbolizes human ingenuity. He represents Adam, the Everyman, and the inventor of the wheel and alphabet. Mrs. Maggie Antrobus (Maria Wraback) is the matriarch and a symbol of domestic stability. She represents Eve and the quintessential mother fighter. Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus have two children. Their daughter, Gladys Antrobus (Lauren Noelle Rafoth), represents innocence and the future with her character frequently scolded for trying to grow up too fast. Their son, Henry Antrobus (Andrew Annicharico), embodies the darker, aggressive side of humanity; he is rebellious and prone to violence, formerly named Cain (who killed his brother Abel).
Sophomore music theatre major Rafoth said, “Even after the entire rehearsal process was through, The Skin of Our Teeth was such an exciting show to work on. Every night I was discovering something new about Wilder’s message to humanity.”
Stagemanager (John Paul Szewczuk) often entered the stage in all black and a headset, signifying to the audience that the show had “stopped” and the actors were now directly addressing the audience. CUA’s production opted to use the actors’ actual names, which garnered significant laughs from the students in the audience.
The ensemble consisted of ten actors that played numerous roles across the different time periods of the show. It consisted of Nora Junge, Margaret Schumacher, Christina Ferentinos, Zoe Bernabe, Brie Beard, Rhett Ricardo, Samantha Cernich, Matthew Riordon, Kat Caldwell, and Skye Lozano. Specifically in act one, Schumacher and Ferentinos portrayed a dinosaur and a mammoth, with both proving to be quite a hit with the crowd.
The play chillingly ends with the characters returning to their daily routines, suggesting that humanity will continue to survive disasters, but also inevitably repeat its mistakes.
Returning to CUA after John Proctor is the Villain in November 2024, Megan Behm’s directing complements Wilder’s work. Notably, specific references to the Rome School’s drama department were a crowd favorite among students. They were made during the “breaks” in the show when Sabina broke the fourth wall, talking directly to the audience. There also was a clear difference between the play and the play-within-the-play that helped audiences understand what was actually going on.
Faith Moran, a sophomore musical theatre and history double major, served as the assistant director on the project.“Shows like The Skin of Our Teeth speak so much to our society, even 80 odd years after it was written. Absurdist theatre like this might seem ‘weird’ to some people, but when you realize that just about everything is on purpose, allegorical, and metaphoric, it gives you a whole new understanding and greater appreciation for what theatre can do,” Moran said. “Working on The Skin of Our Teeth tangibly affirmed for me how art not only reflects life, but it can also shape it.”
The rest of the creative team consisted of phenomenal designers from around the DMV area. Samina Vieth, who last designed Bright Star in April 2025, returned to CUA and beautifully captured the essence of the play with the gorgeous set. The acts consisted of an intricate house, boardwalk, and the same house post-war.
Katie McCreary’s lighting design utilized color which helped clarify the distinction between the play and the meta-narrative. Impressively, the back cyclorama had a gorgeous landscape effect in act two. Stephanie Parks’ costumes were accurate to each time period and played into the visual storytelling that helped support the characters. Justin Schmitz’s sound design and Amy Kellett’s props design further helped bring this story to life under Behm’s leadership. Credit for the staged violence goes to fight choreographer Casey Kaleba with Wraback serving as fight captain.
Although The Skin of Our Teeth has concluded its run, there are two more major productions being produced by the Rome School of Performing Arts this semester in the Hartke complex. Quilters, a story about American pioneer women runs March 26 through 29 in the Callan Theatre. Later, The Dialogues of the Carmelites, a fictionalized version of the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, takes the Hartke stage on April 23 through 26. These are shows you do not want to miss!
Tickets can be purchased at arts.catholic.edu/performances-and-events/box-office.
