Artists Rep presents the final production of its 2015/16 season
The Skin of Our Teeth
Thornton Wilder’s jaw-dropping comedy of EPIC proportions
WHO: Artists Repertory Theatre
WHAT: The Skin of Our Teeth
By Thornton Wilder. Directed by Dámaso Rodriguez.
WHEN: May 17 – June 12, 2016
- Preview performances: May 17-20
- Opening Night: May 21
- Regular run: through May 20 Wednesday-Sunday @ 7:30pm; Sundays @ 2pm; Wednesday, May 18 @ 11am; Sunday, June 5 @ 7:30pm (Open Captioned); Saturday, June 11 @ 2pm (ASL Interpreted)
- Post-show discussions following Sunday 2pm matinee performances
- No show June 4 due to Starlight Parade
WHERE: Artists Repertory Theatre, Alder Stage, 1516 SW Alder Street, Portland
TICKETS: $48 regular price; $25 preview/student/under 25
- Pay-What-You-Can First Preview performance: May 17
- Buy Tickets: 503.241.1278 or artistsrep.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Portland, Oregon | May 2, 2016. Artists Repertory Theatre is thrilled to present The Skin of Our Teeth, a timeless comedy by Thornton Wilder that has amazed audiences for generations with its unique theatrical style, huge, and not always human, cast and an epic story that spans centuries. The Skin of Our Teeth is a play in three acts, Artists Rep’s production will include 3 to 10 Community Guest Stars in walk-on roles for every performance and will employ multimedia projections, live video feed and a cornucopia of masks.
This comedic masterpiece takes on the entirety of history, with one ordinary American family who lives through it all. Dad’s just invented the wheel, Cain is throwing rocks at the neighbor kid, mammoths and dinosaurs lounge in the family room and mom frets about how to get all those animals on the boat two by two. Through Ice Ages, biblical floods and political conventions, the Antrobus family of Excelsior, New Jersey perseveres. With a huge cast and time-set across the ages, this theatrical allegory captures the human spirit – of brilliance, idiocy and ultimately sweet survival.
“I love this play wholeheartedly,” wrote Artists Rep Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez, who is directing this production. “And, despite a dozen years or so in positions at theatres where I have had either full control over choices or some input affecting programming, the play has evaded me. The cast is usually determined too large or the design needs too demanding. Despite its status as a ‘classic’ and Pulitzer-winner, it is still usually considered not familiar enough to general audiences to be anything less than a big, bold box office risk. Part of the problem is that I won’t accept just any production; I want to live up to Wilder’s extraordinary, relentlessly relevant vision. The play is so important that it deserves everything Mr. Wilder asks of producers and directors. His characters exist in ‘every time’ and ‘everywhere,’ and his play has the power to capture (and relieve!) the anxiety of any community in any moment.”
COMMUNITY GUEST STARS
Artists Rep will share The Skin of Our Teeth with our audience and community in a way that is rarely possible: we are inviting members from the community, as many as 300 over the course of the run, to join us onstage at every performance to play a variety of small roles, such as refugees, conventioneers and philosophers. A wide range of community members, community groups and youth groups are in the show for each performance. From local celebrities, to high school and under-served youth, to board members, to donors and ushers, to staff and average Janes and Joes, these Community Guest Stars will take the stage alongside esteemed, professional actors. As part of the cast for the night, will have a short pre-show orientation, a definitive backstage experience for duration of the show and take a bow with the cast at curtain call.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Thornton Wilder (1897-1915) was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and two plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth. Wilder’s farce, The Matchmaker, was adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly! He also enjoyed enormous success as a translator, adaptor, actor, librettist and lecturer/ teacher. Wilder’s many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
GALLERY INSTALLATION
The Geezer Gallery is proud to present Through Women’s Eyes, an installation featuring seven women artists who embarked on an adventure of imagination, interpretation and creation. In the fall of 2015, the scripts of Grand Concourse and The Skin of Our Teeth were given to these women and they personally challenged themselves to each create a body of work that visually represents the complex themes and illuminations of these plays through their eyes and chosen medium. The Geezer Gallery envisions that the combination of performing and visual art breathes life into the respective mediums and transforms the viewer’s experience into a place of active looking and listening. The Geezer Gallery believes that each art form enables one to see that work from different perspectives and think about it in new ways. Click here to learn more about the Geezer Gallery and the artists involved in this installation.
MUSICAL CONNECTION
In Concert at Artists Rep presents Portland Sings! with some of Portland’s finest singers: Hailey Kilgore, Hudson Hale, Camille Trinka, Vin Shambry, Josie Seid, Rick Lewis and director Courtney Freed. Mothers, Daughters, Fathers, and Sons – Songs about Family, is a musical celebration honoring our most intimate and complicated human bonds. This evening of beloved songs gathered from Broadway and beyond will take place on the set of The Skin of Our Teeth with musical direction by Portland piano dynamo, Mont Chris Hubbard. One performance only: Tuesday June 7, 7:30pm. Tickets are $20. More information here.
The Skin of Our Teeth
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Dámaso Rodriguez
CAST
Sara Hennessy* Sabina
Don Alder* Mr. Antrobus
Linda Alper*^ Mrs. Antrobus
Val Landrum*^ Gladys
Shawn Lee* Henry
Sarah Lucht*^ Ensemble
Michael Mendelson*^ Ensemble
Chris Harder*^ Ensemble
Vana O’Brien*^ Announcer/Ensemble
Lauren Modica* Fortune Teller/Ensemble
Dámaso J. Rodriguez Telegraph Boy
Eva Rodriguez Woolly Mammoth
Sky Jude Dinosaur
CREATIVE TEAM
Megan Wilkerson^ Scenic Designer
Gregory Pulver^ Costume Designer
Kristeen Willis Crosser^ Lighting Designer
Rodolfo Ortega^ Sound Designer
Jane Holmes Wig Design
Josie Benedetti Assistant Costume Designer
Emily Wilken Props Master
Mary McDonald-Lewis^ Dialect Coach
Luan Schooler Dramaturg
Jonathan Cole Fight Choreographer
Michelle Jazuk* Production Stage Manager
D Westerholm* Assistant Stage Manager
Esther McFaden Production Assistant
Joshua Rippy Assistant Director/Guest Star Coordinator
Sundance Wilson Henry Lead Wardrobe
Grace Owens Deck Crew/Youth Supervisor
Charlie Capps Deck Crew
Jon Plueard & Duncan Lynch Board Ops
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers
^ Artists Rep Resident Artist
ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE
Portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez and Managing Director Sarah Horton. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. For the 2015/16 season Artists Rep will offer eight bold and entertaining plays written by internationally acclaimed playwrights and guided by esteemed directors. Artists Rep productions will feature the work of a core group of accomplished Resident Artists, each with a shared history and a shorthand for collaboration, working alongside guest artists from Portland and beyond. Artists Rep is also home to the ArtsHub, a program which offers residencies within Artists Rep’s facility to smaller and emerging arts organizations with subsidized administrative, performance and rehearsal space, as well other infrastructural services. The Artists Rep facility serves as a community arts center, where performance venues and other public spaces are continually buzzing with activity.
Artists Rep’s mission is to engage diverse audiences in fresh, thought-provoking and intimate theatre. We are committed to world-class acting, directing, design and stagecraft that support new playwriting and aspire to embody great literature, moving audiences to truly feel — to experience — storytelling in a way that only the best live theatre can.
The 2015/16 Artists Repertory Theatre season is presented by Ronni Lacroute/WillaKenzie Estate and David and Christine Vernier. The Skin of Our Teeth is presented at Artists Rep with support from Work For Art, Mentor Graphics, Maletis Beverage, AH Creative, Jenny & Carter MacNachol and Julie & Robert Ball. Our season media sponsors are The Oregonian and KINK. Other season support comes from the Regional Arts Culture Council, Oregon Community Foundation, Collins Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation and Work for Art.
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Nicole A. Lane
Communications Director
Artists Repertory Theatre
503.241.9807 x102 (office)
360.601.4298 (mobile)
[email protected]
1515 SW Morrison St.
Portland, OR 97205
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Grand Concourse
By Heidi Schreck. Directed by JoAnn Johnson.
What’s your limit on forgiveness? Are you handing out or holding back?
STARTS MAY 3 and EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 5!
The Skin of Our Teeth
By Thornton Wilder. Directed by Dámaso Rodriguez.
Save the human race! A dazzling spectacle spanning all of human existence!
STARTS MAY 17
DON’T WAIT! Get seats now here.
CHECK OUT our 2016/17 SEASON!
Click here to learn about the 7-show 2016/17 season.
Full Season Ticket Holders get $35 seats + free parking, friendly service, free exchanges & special deals.
Offer good through October 2, 2016! Learn more here.
