The Skin of Our Teeth Response The Skin of Our Teeth, by Thornton Wilder, uses the bible, philosophy, and absurdism to tell a radical and proactive story with two narratives; the Antrobus family and the theatre company presenting the play about the Antrobuses. Influenced by the German expressionist movement, The Skin of Our Teeth broke from established theatre practices and combined many genres of theatre. While the play was written in the 1940s, as shocking amount of it applies to today’s politics and society making it a very timely and appropriate choice and Ohio University’s production of The Skin of Our Teeth succeeded in most aspects of this very difficult and demanding play.
Sabina’s character, played by Rachel Gaunce, is the maid of the Antrobus family and begins and ends the play. Rachel did a wonderful job of acting realistically in very absurd and unrealistic scenarios. Sabina’s character is very peppy and outgoing at the beginning of the play, but as it progresses she is forced into many difficult situations and must overcome them. This does not change Sabina’s personality much. Rachel very clearly sets it up in the beginning of the play that she can handle whatever is thrown at her. This ties into the absurdity of the play as her character ends in the same why she begins and nothing ever
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For instance, there is a dinosaur and a mammoth who are pets of the Antrobus family. The actors who play these animals are in very puppet-like costumes that the audience recognizes as a dinosaur and a mammoth, but they aren’t realistic. These animals are also no bigger than the actors playing them. Another example are the costumes for the Antrobus family and most of the other characters. They are very obviously costumed in 1940’s attire, yet the play talks about events like the Ice age, and the invention of the wheel, making it seem as if this play could take place at any