The guy who wrote Our Town also wrote a pseudo-biblical story about the end of the world. Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth is a strangely post-modern play for 1942. It’s a weird mash-up of drama and comedy that mixes fourth wall-breaking biblical allegory with the overall feeling of an early-to-mid twentieth century sitcom.
The Skin of Our Teeth makes an appearance on an intimate stage next month as Off the Wall Theatre stages a special summer production of the Wilder’s weird ’40s hybrid. Dale Gutzman directs a production featuring a cast of usual suspects including Jeremy C. Welter, Larry Lukasavage and Patrick McCann with Benjamin J. Ludwig, Carole Herbstreit-Kalinyen and more.
Gutzman’s little studio theatre can render some really interesting stories given the right vision and a production of Wilder’s weirdest can’t help but be interesting regardless of how it’s executed. (I once saw a high school production that was kind of hypnotic.)
Off the Wall Theatre’s staging of The Skin of Our runs Jun. 23 - Jul. 3 on 127 E. Wells St. For ticket reservations and more, call 414-327-3552.