5/17. Tuesday. First performance of Thornton Wilder's play, The Teeth of Our Skin at Artists Repertory Theatre, directed by Dámaso Rodriguez. A very messy play. The plot is inventive but a bit chaotic: an American Family (named Antrobus ~ anthropos) going through Ice Age, Biblical Flood, and modern war. The characters are representative: a father who tries to make a better beginning (he invented wheel, is inventing alphabet and multiplication table), a mother who's indulging and self righteous, a son who's violent, and a stupid daughter. On top of the complex and non-linear narrative, and a lot of characters (including dinosaur, Moses), there are 3 schemed in interruptions of the actors talking directly to the audience. One in each act. The first one is acceptable: Sabina the maid complains about the repetitiveness of life and the length of play. The 2nd is odd, the beauty queen refuses to say the lines, but tells it anyway, making someone sobbing in the audience (all made up of course). The 3rd is totally disruptive and ridiculous: a fictitious meal allegedly caused a few actors ill, and 4 school kids were asked to rehearse with the stage manager.
3 acts, each with a different stage set. A long play. I should say that the company did a great job of pulling all these together, even though I don't like the play. I would have cut the interruptions and maybe tighten up the rest.
