The Skin of Our Teeth

The Skin of Our Teeth
1942 original production handbill illustrated by Don Freeman
Written by	Thornton Wilder
Characters	Sabina Mrs. Antrobus Mr. Antrobus Gladys Telegraph Boy Dinosaur Chair Pusher Henry Woolly Mammoth
Date premiered	October 15, 1942
Place premiered	Shubert Theatre New Haven, Connecticut
Original language	English
Genre	Comedy
Setting	The Antrobus home in Excelsior, New Jersey; the Atlantic City boardwalk

The Skin of Our Teeth is a play by Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1942. It was produced by Michael Myerberg and directed by Elia Kazan. 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 original production starred Tallulah Bankhead, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, and Montgomery Clift. Bankhead won a 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. The epic comedy-drama is noted as among the most heterodox of classic American comedies — it broke nearly every established theatrical convention.