The Skin of Our Teeth
It’s hugely ironic that Wilder is considered a relic of an ossified American theater full of quaint charm and folksy wisdom when his writings, like Brecht’s, emphasize the need for theater to jar its audiences out of their middle-class slumber and, like Pirandello’s, experiment with theatrical form. Innumerable high school and grammar school productions of Wilder’s Our Town have undoubtedly played a role, connecting him not with his philosophy or the avant-garde style for which he was lambasted when that play premiered but with soda fountains, church choirs, Grover’s Corners, and a voice warbling “Pepperidge Farm remembers.” Wilder’s reputation has been further degraded by association with that grinning ghoul Carol Channing and Hello, Dolly!, the musical version of his The Matchmaker. (One shudders to think what Kander and Ebb might do to our impressions of this play.) Wilder’s actual thoughts about Main Street, USA, might have been best expressed in the screenplay for Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, which depicts the decidedly creepy underbelly of a town that could pass at first glance for Grover’s Corners.
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But in order to deal with contemporary issues Payne has profoundly changed Wilder’s time periods. The first act, which Payne labels “The Ice Age,” takes place mainly in the 1950s, with Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus appearing as typical suburban parents in the Leave It to Beaver or Donna Reed Show mold. The second act, called “The Great Flood,” is set in the 70s and features wide ties and loud sport coats. Here Mrs. Antrobus’s ironic references to women’s suffrage suggest the 70s struggle for women’s liberation, while Sabina’s overt sexuality seems some sort of commentary on the way the sexual revolution undermined the American family. The final act, which Payne sets in the 90s after World War III, is rife with apocalyptic references presenting the world as it might be after a nuclear war or the ravages of global warming. But since Wilder was writing in response to a specific international crisis and ATC’s production is responding to a vague malaise, this change seems inadequately motivated.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Kameron Flynn.
