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{{Short description|1942 play by Thornton Wilder}}
{{About|the 1942 play|the 1959 Australian television play based on it|The Skin of Our Teeth (film)|the biblical phrase|Skin of my teeth}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = The Skin of Our Teeth
| image      = Skin-of-Our-Teeth-Handbill.jpg
| image_size =
| caption    = Handbill for the 1942 Broadway production. Artwork by [[Don Freeman]].
| writer     = [[Thornton Wilder]]
| characters = Sabina<br>Mrs. Antrobus<br>Mr. Antrobus<br>Gladys<br>Telegraph Boy<br>Dinosaur<br>Chair Pusher<br> Henry <br>Woolly Mammoth
| setting    = The Antrobus home in Excelsior, New Jersey; the Atlantic City boardwalk 
| premiere   = October 15, 1942
| place      = [[Shubert Theatre (New Haven)|Shubert Theatre]]<br>[[New Haven, Connecticut]]
| orig_lang  = [[English language|English]]
| subject    = 
| genre      = Comedy
}}

'''''The Skin of Our Teeth''''' is a [[stage play|play]] by [[Thornton Wilder]] that won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the [[Shubert Theatre (New Haven)|Shubert Theatre]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], before moving to the [[Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre|Plymouth Theatre]] on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] on November 18, 1942. It was produced by Michael Myerberg and directed by [[Elia Kazan]] with costumes by [[Mary Percy Schenck]]. The play is a three-part [[allegory]] about the life of mankind, centering on the Antrobus family of the fictional town of Excelsior, [[New Jersey]]. The epic comedy-drama is noted as among the most heterodox of classic American comedies, as it breaks nearly every established convention of theatrical performances that was in effect when Wilder wrote it.

The phrase used as the title comes from the [[King James Bible]], Job 19:20: "My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the [[skin of my teeth]]."

==Overview==
The main characters of the play are George and Maggie Antrobus (from {{langx|el|άνθρωπος}} (anthropos), "human" or "person"), their two children, Henry and Gladys, and Sabina, who appears as the family's maid in the first and third acts, and as a beauty queen temptress in the second act.  The play's action takes place in a modern setting, but is full of anachronisms reaching back to prehistoric times.  The characters' roles as [[archetype]]s are emphasized by their identification with [[Bible|Biblical]] and [[classics|classical]] personalities:

The name Lilly Sabina is a reference to the myth of [[Lilith]] and to the historical [[The Rape of the Sabine Women|rape of the Sabine women]], identifications made relatively explicit in the play's text. Henry Antrobus's name was changed from "[[Cain]]", following his murder of his brother [[Abel]], mirroring the biblical story in which [[Adam (Bible)|Adam]]'s son murders his brother after God favors Abel over Cain by gifts. This implies that George Antrobus is Adam and Maggie Antrobus [[Eve]], supported when George composes a song for his wife Maggie in honor of their anniversary: "Happy w'dding ann'vers'ry dear Eva."

The murder of Abel is an underlying theme in the play. Mr. Antrobus pays far more attention to his "perfect" third child Gladys than he does Henry. As this treatment of Henry continues, Henry's anger progresses throughout the play, reaching its climax in the third act.

While the Antrobus family remains constant throughout the play, the three acts do not form a continuous narrative.  The first act takes place during an impending [[ice age]]; in the second act the family circumstances have changed as George becomes president of the Fraternal Order of Mammals (apparent references to [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] but also to the [[Roaring Twenties]]), while the end of the world approaches a second time; the third act opens with Maggie and Gladys emerging from a bunker at the end of a seven-year-long war.

An additional layer of stylistic complexity is added by the occasional interruption of the [[recitative]] narrative scene by [[Fourth wall|actors directly addressing the audience]]: In the first scene, the actress playing Sabina reveals her misgivings to the audience about the play; in the second act, she refuses to recite her lines and instead talks to the spectators, which causes a woman in the audience to run from the theater sobbing; and in the third act, the actor playing Mr. Antrobus interrupts to announce that several actors have taken ill and asks the audience to indulge them while the  "stage manager" of the play conducts a rehearsal with the replacements.

==Plot==
===Act I===
Act I is an [[amalgamation (fiction)|amalgam]] of early 20th century [[New Jersey]] and the dawn of the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]]. The father is inventing things such as the [[lever]], the [[wheel]], the [[alphabet]], and [[multiplication tables]]. The family and the entire [[Northeastern U.S.]] face extinction by a wall of ice moving southward from Canada. The story is introduced by a narrator and further expanded by the family maid, Sabina. There are unsettling parallels between the members of the Antrobus family and various characters from the Bible. In addition, time is compressed and scrambled to such an extent that the refugees who arrive at the Antrobus house seeking food and fire include the [[Old Testament]] prophet [[Moses]], the ancient Greek poet [[Homer]], and women who are identified as [[Muses]].

===Act II===
Act II takes place on the [[boardwalk (entertainment district)|Boardwalk]] at [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], where the Antrobuses are present for George's swearing-in as president of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans. Sabina is present, also, in the guise of a scheming beauty queen, who tries to steal George's affection from his wife and family. The conventioneers are rowdy and party furiously, but there is an undercurrent of foreboding, as a fortune teller warns of an impending storm. The weather soon transforms from summery sunshine to hurricane to deluge. Gladys and Henry attempt their individual rebellions and are brought back into line by the family. The act ends with the family members reconciled and, paralleling the biblical story of [[Noah's Ark]], directing pairs of animals to safety on a large boat, where they survive the storm and the end of the world.

===Act III===
Act III takes place in the ruins of the Antrobuses' former home.  A devastating war has occurred; Maggie and Gladys have survived by hiding in a cellar.  When they come out of the cellar, Gladys is seen to have a baby. Sabina joins them and is "dressed as a Napoleonic camp-follower." George has been away at the front lines leading an army. Henry also fought, on the opposite side, and returns as a [[general]]. The family members discuss the ability of the [[human]] race to rebuild and continue after continually destroying itself. The question is raised: "Is there any accomplishment or attribute of the human race of enough value that its civilization should be rebuilt?"

The [[stage manager]] interrupts the play-within-the-play to explain that several members of their company cannot perform their parts, possibly from food poisoning (as the actress playing Sabina saw [[blue mold]] on the [[lemon meringue pie]] at dinner). The stage manager drafts a janitor, a dresser, and other non-actors to fill their parts, which involve quoting philosophers such as [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] to mark the passing of time within the play.

The [[alternate history]] action ends where it began, with Sabina dusting the living room and worrying about George's arrival from the office. Her final acts are to address the audience and to turn over the responsibility of continuing the action, or life, to them.

==Influences and criticism==
Similarities between the play and [[James Joyce]]'s novel ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'' (1939) have been noted<ref>{{cite news|title=Timely and Dated: The Skin of Our Teeth at the Artistic Home: Thornton Wilder's vintage take on the eternal quandaries|first=Albert |last=Williams|date=February 18, 2010|work=[[Chicago Reader]]|url=https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/timely-and-dated/|quote=Written under the influence of Joyce’s ''Finnegans Wake'', ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' was considered avant-garde in its time.}}</ref> — such as a family that represents the totality of humanity, cyclical storytelling, and copious Biblical allusions. One such comparison was published in the ''[[Saturday Review (US magazine)|Saturday Review]]'' during the play's run on Broadway. [[Norman Cousins]], editor of the ''Review,'' printed a short article by [[Joseph Campbell]] and [[Henry Morton Robinson]] titled "The Skin of Whose Teeth? The Strange Case of Mr. Wilder's New Play and ''Finnegans Wake''" in the issue for December 19, 1942,<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first= Joseph|author-link=Joseph Campbell|title= Mythic Worlds, Modern Worlds: On the Art of James Joyce|publisher=New World Library|location=[[Novato, California]]|isbn= 978-1-57731-406-6  |date=2004|pages=257–69}}</ref> with a second part in the February 13, 1943, issue.<ref>Campbell. ''Mythic Worlds, Modern Words'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9lxoWD9yHMC&dq=%22The+Skin+of+Whose+Teeth%3F+The+Strange+Case+of+Mr.+Wilder%27s+New+Play+and+Finnegan%27s+Wake&pg=PR9  p. 258].</ref>

In Campbell's book ''Pathways to Bliss'', Campbell recalls his reaction to the similarities he noted between Wilder's play and Joyce's novel:
{{blockquote|[W]hen I went to see Thornton Wilder's ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', which was the big Broadway hit at the time...all I heard was ''Finnegans Wake''. [...] I phoned Robinson, and I said, "Good God, here's Wilder making tons of money and a lot of fame on this thing, and it's simply ''Finnegans Wake''." Joyce had just died, and his family was destitute. So I said, "I think we should write a letter to the ''New York Times''."<ref name="Campbell2004">{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Joseph |editor1-last=Kudler |editor1-first=David |date=2004 |title=Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation |location=Novato, CA |publisher=New World Library |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pathwaystoblissm00camp/page/122 122–123] |isbn=1577314719 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/pathwaystoblissm00camp/page/122 }}</ref>}}

Campbell claimed to have compared ''Finnegans Wake'' and the book form of ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' and found "nearly two hundred and fifty analogues—characters, themes, and finally a four-line, word-for-word quote."<ref name="Campbell2004"/>

The fact is that Wilder was one of ''Finnegans Wake''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s early champions — Wilder wrote to [[Gertrude Stein]] and [[Alice Toklas]] in August 1939, a few months after the book's publication, that "One of my absorptions [...] has been James Joyce's new novel, digging out its buried keys and resolving that unbroken chain of erudite puzzles."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Burns|editor-first=E. M.|title=A Tour of the Darkling Plain: The Finnegans Wake Letters of Thornton Wilder and [[Adaline Glasheen]]|publisher=[[University College Dublin]]|page=xxi|isbn= 978-1900621557|date=2001}}</ref>

Campbell and Robinson's reviews-cum-denunciations created a huge uproar at the time.<ref>Campbell, ''Mythic Worlds, Modern Words'', pp. 257–266.</ref>
''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine's [[Wolcott Gibbs]] satirized Campbell and Robinson's accusations in a December 26, 1942, piece called "Finnegan's Teeth."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Wolcott|last=Gibbs|author-link=Wolcott Gibbs|title=Finnegan's Teeth|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=Dec 26, 1942|url=https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1942-12-26/flipbook/034}}</ref>

==Notable productions==
[[File:Thornton Wilder (1948).jpg|thumb|Wilder as Mr. Antrobus in 1948]]
The original production starred [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Fredric March]], [[Florence Eldridge]], and [[Montgomery Clift]]. Bankhead won a [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] Award for Best Actress and the [[New York Drama Critics Award]] for Best Actress of the Year for her role as Sabina. When she left the production in March 1943, she was replaced by [[Miriam Hopkins]]. Hopkins was in turn replaced by [[Gladys George]]. For two performances, while George was ill, [[Lizabeth Scott]], who had been Bankhead's [[understudy]], was called in to play the role. Scott then played the role for the production's run in [[Boston]]. Originally billed in New York as "Elizabeth Scott", she dropped the "E" before taking the part in Boston, and it became her breakthrough role.

Following a pre-London tryout tour of the UK, the play had its London premiere at the Phoenix Theatre on 16 May 1945, where it ran for 77 performances, closing 21 July 1945.  It re-opened in London at the Piccadilly Theatre on 11 September 1946, running there for a further 109 performances, until 14 December.  Directed by [[Laurence Olivier]], Sabina was played by [[Vivien Leigh]], with [[Cecil Parker]] as George Antrobus ([[George Devine]] at the Piccadilly).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wearing|first=J. P.|title=The London stage, 1940-1949 : a calendar of plays and players|date=1991|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-2500-7|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=24544270}}</ref> The Oliviers also included the production on their Old Vic tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1948. Leigh revived the role in a 1959 television production filmed live by [[Granada Television]], also starring [[George Devine]] as Mr. Antrobus and [[Ruth Dunning]] as Mrs. Antrobus.<ref>{{cite book|title=Plays for the Millions: The First 75. A Cross Index of Granada TV Play Productions|publisher=Granada TV Network|location=London|date=1960}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[TVTimes]]|date=13 March 1959|pages=19–20; 29|title=The Skin of Our Teeth}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Kendra+|url=http://vivandlarry.com/cinema-archive/tv-appearances/the-skin-of-our-teeth-starring-vivien-leigh/|title='THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH' STARRING VIVIEN LEIGH|website=VivAndLarry.com|date=May 6, 2010}}</ref>

The play was revived on Broadway in 1955, premiering at the [[ANTA Theatre]].<ref name="The Broadway League 1955b">{{cite web |author=The Broadway League |date=August 17, 1955 |title=The Skin of Our Teeth – Broadway Play – 1955 Revival |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-skin-of-our-teeth-2521 |access-date=February 28, 2022 |website=IBDB}}<br/>{{Cite web |title=The Skin of Our Teeth (Broadway, August Wilson Theatre, 1955) |url=https://playbill.com/production/the-skin-of-our-teeth-anta-playhouse-vault-0000013091 |access-date=February 28, 2022 |website=Playbill |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Brooks |date=August 18, 1955 |title=Theatre: 'The Skin of Our Teeth' Is Revived; Wilder's Play of 1942 Staged at ANTA |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/08/18/archives/theatre-the-skin-of-our-teeth-is-revived-wilders-play-of-1942.html |access-date=March 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It was staged by the [[Gateway Theatre (Edinburgh)|Edinburgh Gateway Company]] in 1961.<ref>Edinburgh Gateway Company (1965), ''The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953-1965'', St. Giles Press, Edinburgh, p. 51</ref>

In 1983, ''[[American Playhouse]]'', on PBS, aired a production that was produced at the [[Old Globe Theatre]] in San Diego.  It starred [[Blair Brown]], [[Harold Gould]], [[Sada Thompson]], [[Rue McClanahan]] and [[Jeffrey Combs]], and was directed by Jack O'Brien.

New York City's [[Public Theater]] presented a production as part of its 1998 summer [[Shakespeare in the Park]] festival at the [[Delacorte Theater]] in [[Central Park]].  That production starred [[Kristen Johnston]], [[John Goodman]] and [[Frances Conroy]].  It was directed by Irene Lewis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1998/legit/reviews/the-skin-of-our-teeth-1200453856/|title=The Skin of Our Teeth|date=29 June 1998}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Theatre for a New Audience]] performed ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' directed by Arin Arbus.<ref>Ben Brantley, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/theater/the-skin-of-our-teeth-review.html "Review: In ‘The Skin of Our Teeth,’ the End of the World as We Know It"], The New York Times, February 28th, 2017.</ref> It won the 2017 [[Obie Award]] for Directing and Performance by Kecia Lewis.<ref>Obie Award, [http://www.obieawards.com/events/year-2017/ 2017 Winners]</ref>

A Broadway revival of the play directed by [[Lileana Blain-Cruz]]  premiered at the [[Vivian Beaumont Theater]] in previews on April 1, 2022, and officially on April 25. It was subsequently nominated for six [[Tony Awards]] including Best Direction, Best Lead Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design, and Best Set Design.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Evans|first=Greg|date=2022-02-22|title=Broadway's 'The Skin Of Our Teeth' Spring Revival Announces Cast|url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/broadway-the-skin-of-our-teeth-cast-priscilla-lopez-1234957967/|access-date=2022-02-26|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Cast list ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:10%;" | Character
! style="width:10%;" | Original Broadway Cast <br /> <small>1942</small>
! style="width:10%;" | [[Old Globe Theatre]], <Br/> San Diego <br /> <small>1983</small>
! style="width:10%;" | [[Public Theatre]], <Br/> New York <br/> <small>1998</small>
! style="width:10%;" | [[Vivian Beaumont Theatre|Vivian Beaumont]] <Br/> Broadway revival <br/> <small>2022</small>
|-
!Mr. Antrobus 
|[[Fredric March]]
|[[Harold Gould]]
|[[John Goodman]] 
|James Vincent Meredith
|-
!Mrs. Antrobus 
|[[Florence Eldridge]] 
|[[Sada Thompson]] 
|[[Frances Conroy]]
|Roslyn Ruff
|-
!Henry 
|[[Montgomery Clift]]
|[[Jeffrey Combs]] 
|John Ortiz
|Julian Robertson
|-
!Gladys
|[[Frances Heflin]]
|Monique Fowler 
|Brienin Bryant
|Paige Gilbert
|-
!Sabina
|[[Tallulah Bankhead]]
|[[Blair Brown]]
|[[Kristen Johnston]]
|[[Gabby Beans]]
|-
!Mr. Fitzpatrick
|[[E.G. Marshall]]
|Jonathan McMurty 
|{{n/a}} 
|Donnetta Lavina Grays
|-
|}

== Awards and nominations ==
=== 2022 Broadway revival ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;" | Year
! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Award 
! scope="col" style="width:25em;"| Category
! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Nominated work
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | Result
|-
| rowspan="6" |[[75th Tony Awards|2022]]
| rowspan=6| [[Tony Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Sandra |last2=Melas |first2=Chloe |title=Tony Awards 2022: See the list of winners |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/12/entertainment/tony-awards-2022-winners/index.html |website=CNN |date=June 13, 2022}}</ref>
| [[Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play|Best Actress in a Play]]
| [[Gabby Beans]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play|Best Direction of a Play]]
| Lileana Blain-Cruz 
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play|Best Scenic Design of a Play]]
| Adam Rigg
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play|Best Costume Design of a Play]]
| [[Montana Levi Blanco]] 
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play|Best Lighting of a Play]]
| Yi Zhao
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play|Best Sound Design of a Play]]
| Palmer Hefferan
| {{nom}}
|-
|}

==References==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite news | author=Brooks Atkinson | title=The Skin of Our Teeth | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/11/22/85068315.html?pageNumber=204 | work=The New York Times | date=15 November 1942 | access-date=2021-06-20}} 
* {{cite news | author=Mel Gussow | title=Wilder Revival The Skin of Our Teeth | url=http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9A0DE7DA1338F937A15752C1A960948260 | work=The New York Times | date=24 November 1986 | access-date=2008-07-10}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|The Skin of Our Teeth}}
* {{IBDB show|8071}}
* {{IBDB title|1240}}
* [http://www.twildersociety.org/works/the-skin-of-our-teeth/ ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' Plot Summary and Critical Analysis]; by The Thornton Wilder Society
* [http://www.twildersociety.org/education/teaching-materials/ ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' Teaching and Reading Educational Materials]; by The Thornton Wilder Society
* {{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc-9ntEll1Q&pp=ygUcdGhlIHNraW4gb2YgeW91ciB0ZWV0aCBwbGF5IA%3D%3D|title= Vivien Leigh in The Skin of Our Teeth (1/2)|author=VivAndLarry.com|publisher=YouTube|date=May 30, 2013}}
* {{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61jfyE0m-u0&pp=ygUcdGhlIHNraW4gb2YgeW91ciB0ZWV0aCBwbGF5IA%3D%3D|title= Vivien Leigh in The Skin of Our Teeth (2/2)|author=VivAndLarry.com|publisher=YouTube|date=May 30, 2013}}
*{{Internet Archive film|a-1-t-00-the-skin-of-our-teeth}}

{{Thornton Wilder}}
{{Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1926-1950}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skin Of Our Teeth, The}}
[[Category:1942 plays]]
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:American comedy plays]]
[[Category:Metafictional plays]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning works]]
[[Category:Plays by Thornton Wilder]]
[[Category:Plays set in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Tony Award–winning plays]]
[[Category:Plays set in Atlantic City, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American plays adapted into television shows]]