 | Mozhan Navabi plays a fortune teller in Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy. |
"The Skin of Our Teeth," Thornton Wilder's comic look at the First Family (Adam and Eve's clan, that is), will be the next offering in the School of Drama's 2003-2004 season.
The play, directed by drama student Kara-Lynn Vaeni, will be presented Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 11-13, and Tuesday-Wednesday, Dec. 16-17, in the University Theatre, 320 York St.
"The Skin of Our Teeth," which netted Wilder his third Pulitzer Prize, follows the struggles of the Antrobus family -- Adam, Eve, Cain and Lilith -- as they survive an ice age, a flood and a war, as well as the domestic mishaps of rebellious teenagers, financial woes and bothersome pets (i.e., talking dinosaurs).
The play made its world premiere at New Haven's Shubert Theater on Oct. 15, 1942, where it received a notoriously mixed reaction from audiences (legend tells of patrons racing from the theater at the first intermission). That November, however, the New York premiere played to sold-out houses, and the play has been continually produced ever since. Critic James Woolcott said of the work, "having seen 'The Skin of Our Teeth' and thought about it and read it, I know what I think about it. I think no other American play has ever come anywhere near it."
Director Vaeni, who is presenting the play as her thesis production, was a founding member of the short-lived Nepotism Theatre Company in New York. She also served on the artistic board of the Theatre Cooperative in Boston, where she founded and produced The Ritalin Readings, an annual festival of 10-minute plays featuring new work by New England writers. At Yale, Vaeni served as the artistic director of the Yale Summer Cabaret in 2002, where she directed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Three Days of Rain." Her other Yale credits include "Henry IV, Part One," a musical version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," a collaborative adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels" and new plays by Yale playwrights. In 2003, she was awarded a Presidential Public Service Fellowship to teach theater to children in the New Haven community.
The cast for "The Skin of Our Teeth" includes Amanda Cobb (dinosaurs/camera operator), Anita Gandhi (Gladys), Mikelle Johnson (Sabina), Ryan King (telegraph boy/doctor/conveener), Jacob Knoll (Homer/broadcast official), Mozhan Navabi (fortune teller), Anthony Manna (Mr. Antrobus), Christianna Nelson (Mrs. Antrobus), Adam O'Byrne (Henry), Kevin Rich (stage manager), Stefani Romanov (female conveener) and Jedadiah Schultz (Moses/homeless man).
The play features scenic design by Evonne Paik, costume design by Alixandra Englund, lighting design by Bryan Keller and sound design by Sabrina McGuigan. Mark Blankenship is the dramaturg, and Sarah Bierenbaum is the stage manager.
Showtimes are 8 p.m. nightly, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Dec. 13. Ticket prices range from $15 to $18. Student tickets are priced from $12 to $14.50. Discounted rates for seniors and groups are also available. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Yale Repertory Theatre box office at (203) 432-1234.
T H I S
Drama School to stage Wilder's
play about 'First Family'
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