Production History
Photo Gallery
Victoria Pyan (Mammoth), Taj Ruler (Telegraph Boy), Kirby Bennett (Mrs. Antrobus), Pedro Juan Fonseca (Dinosaur); Act One
Kathryn Fumie (Gladys), Kirby Bennett (Mrs. Antrobus), John Middleton (Mr. Antrobus), Neal Skoy (Henry), Pedro Juan Fonseca (Dinosaur), Victoria Pyan (Mammoth); Act One
Victoria Pyan (Mammoth), Kathryn Fumie (Gladys), Kirby Bennett (Mrs. Antrobus), Alayne Hopkins (Sabina), Pedro Juan Fonseca (Dinosaur); Act One
First row: Neal Skoy (Henry), John Middleton (Mr. Antrobus), Kathryn Fumie (Gladys), Kirby Bennett (Mrs. Antrobus); Second row: Alice McGlave (Miss E. Muse), Taj Ruler (Miss M. Muse), Wendy Freshman (Miss T. Muse), Ernest Briggs (Doctor), James Ramlet (Judge Moses), Mike Swan (Homer), Dana Lee Thompson (Professor); Act One
All photos by Petronella J. Ytsma.
Quotes from the press
“This is theater at its best. Enormously entertaining and voluptuously intelligent.”
—Lavender Magazine
“… frighteningly prescient… Every decision by director/set designer Joel Sass underscores the tension between what Wilder wrote almost eight decades ago and what it means to us today.”
—Star Tribune
“… a spectacular staging by Girl Friday Productions.”
—Talkin’ Broadway
​
“75-year-old ‘Skin of our Teeth’ still has plenty of bite… a destination worthy of its journey.”
—Pioneer Press
​
“… a multifaceted gem”
—How Was the Show
​
“Sass and the Girl Friday team (including MVP costume designer Kathy Kohl) saddle this daunting work and ride it through to its cosmic climax in a production that has fun with Wilder's satire without losing sight of the desperate humanity at its core.”
—City Pages
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
The Skin of Our Teeth
By Thornton Wilder
February 7–March 3, 2019
Directed and designed by Joel Sass
Girl Friday Productions was delighted to visit an old friend in 2019, with its new staging of The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. This production played February 7 through March 3, 2019 on the proscenium stage at Park Square Theatre.
Winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize, Wilder’s theatrical masterpiece is an optimistic tribute to the invincibility of the human spirit. Meet the Antrobus family of contemporary and prehistoric New Jersey. Ice, floods, war, family strife, politics… the Antrobus family survives through eons of calamity with their hope intact. Girl Friday Productions took a fresh look at this comedy of epic proportions.
​
“When Girl Friday first explored this work in 2009, our country was in the depth of economic crisis,” says Girl Friday’s Artistic Director Kirby Bennett. “Today, we find ourselves facing different and more challenging circumstances. The Skin of Our Teeth explores the nature of human resilience in ways that are unexpected, hilarious and profoundly moving. Wilder’s work is a perfect fit with Girl Friday’s focus on exceptional literature, relevance, theatricality and the continuing wonder of this condition we call human.”
​
Find out more about Thornton Wilder at www.thorntonwilder.com
Cast:
Announcer (recorded): Ernest Briggs
Sabina: Alayne Hopkins*
Mr. Fitzpatrick: Sam Landman
Mrs. Antrobus: Kirby Bennett
Dinosaur: Pedro Juan Fonseca
Mammoth: Victoria Pyan
Telegraph Boy: Taj Ruler
Gladys: Kathryn Fumie
Henry: Neal Skoy
Mr. Antrobus: John Middleton*
Doctor: Ernest Briggs
Professor: Dana Thompson
Judge Moses: James Ramlet
Homer: Mike Swan
Miss E. Muse: Alice McGlave
Miss T. Muse: Wendy Freshman
Miss M. Muse: Taj Ruler
Announcer #1: James Ramlet
Annoucer #2: Victoria Pyan
Fortune Teller: Dana Lee Thompson
Chair Pusher: Mike Swan
Conveeners: Ernest Briggs, Ellen DeYoung, Corey Fern, Wendy Freshman, Pedro Juan Fonseca, Sam Landman, Alice McGlave, Victoria Pyan, James Ramlet, Taj Ruler, Mike Swan
Broadcast Official: Wendy Freshman
Broadcast Assistant: Taj Ruler
Cameraman: Corey Fern
Mr.Tremayne: James Ramlet
Hester: Wendy Freshman
Ivy: Alice McGlave
Fred Bailey: Ernest Briggs
​
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, appearing under a Guest Artist Contract.
Production Team:
Director and Scenic Designer: Joel Sass**
Assistant Director: Chava Curland
Stage Manager: Penny Laden Kissinger
Assistant Stage Manager: Katie Burger
Production Manager: Brian Columbus
Lighting Designer: Mike Kittel
Video Designer: Kathy Maxwell
Costume Designer: Kathy Kohl
Costume Design Assistant: Mary Farrell
Sound Design and Video Programmer: C Andrew Mayer
Sound Operator: Jerry Hsiao
Props Design: Rick Polenek
Cinematographer of Projection Design: Maxwell Collyard
Dramaturg: Christine Gordon
Fight Choreographer: Annie Enneking
Scenic Charge: Mary Montgomery-Jensen
Technical Director: Gaea Dill-D’Ascoli
Vocal Coach: Lucinda Holshue
Running Crew/Ensemble Essentials: Ellen DeYoung, Corey Fern
Graphic Design: Wendy Ruyle and 5 by 5 Design, Madge Duffey
Photographers: Richard Fleischman and Petronella Ytsma
Hospitality Captain: Philip Losacker
Producer and Artistic Director: Kirby Bennett
​
**Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
Supported in part by the Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization Program
