See it if You're looking for a fresh take on an older play, revived for the right period. You want to be engaged.
Don't see it if You don't like long plays. You're not willing to go on a journey with them.
See it if you want to see a play that was way ahead of its time back in 1942. It predicted the future...TODAY.
Don't see it if absurdity combined with intellect is not your thing. It makes you think.
See it if you like busy meta theater that is fairly well executed.
Don't see it if you don't like being bombarded with lots of ideas at once without much subtlety.
See it if you know and like this odd, disjointed, allegorical play; or just to see Mary Wiseman - as funny and beautiful as the young Lucille Ball
Don't see it if you want your plays linear, fast-paced and fully understandable; this one is not! Yet somehow entertaining and, in the end, hopeful
See it if you want to see a thought-provoking, quirky show about the human experience, and be amazed how relevant it is right now.
Don't see it if you can't handle allegories, you can't handle the 4th wall being broken, chaos on stage bothers you. Read more
See it if You like a non traditional story that is clever and quirky and requires a bit of thought on your part. And if you enjoy Thornton Wilder work
Don't see it if You don't like non-linear/circular stories, the breaking of the fourth wall, and are undeniably odd and at times confusing.
See it if You are up to the challenge of a difficult old notable play. From an earlier challenged time, it speaks to us. You will enjoy Mary Wiseman.
Don't see it if You want easy, this isn't that. Art does not exist independent of it's audience. You bring your history & must engage & do your part.
See it if you want to see something different and adjusted to the contemporary
Don't see it if you have a hard time following events and confuse easily
“Wilder's text demands a directorial one-two punch — a joyous spirit that can sustain the superficial brightness while keeping a firm grasp on its dark underpinnings. Arin Arbus's production gets more of both than I've experienced in any previous staging…Arbus sometimes wavers...But these minor flaws shrink in the larger context: A big, important American play has been reawakened for a historical moment that desperately needs it.”
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"'The Skin Of Our Teeth' now seems as apt as ever...Kecia Lewis is truly extraordinary as Mrs. Antrobus...Just as Wilder predicted that the human race would always get by albeit by the skin of their teeth, so too has Wilder’s play managed to survive and be constantly revived despite those who can’t begin to get into it. Considering the bang-up job Arbus has done with this masterpiece, just go with the flow, the allegory and the achievement."
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"Arin Arbus’s current Theatre for a New Audience production, the first of the 1942 tragicomedy in New York City since 1998, reveals its – and Wilder’s – relevancy...Theatre for a New Audience proves at once that this is not an impossible play to stage. That is, if audiences allow themselves to hear Thornton Wilder’s definition of family values: Survival is assured when everyone works together and keeps their books safe."
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"The resulting production is flawed—for me, key elements of Wilder’s tone are sometimes missing—but I’m very grateful to have seen it...'Skin of Our Teeth' needs to begin with at least a superficial connection to a real, recognizable world. In Arbus’s production, there isn’t much of that...Still, there are lovely, memorable things throughout Arbus’s production...I wish that 'Skin of Our Teeth'—an allegory and a fable for sure—didn’t look quite so allegorical as it does here."
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"A brilliant and timely production...A miracle of theater, and one that probably should be seen by anyone who worries about where all of us are going...This production is, simply put, is a revelation. As directed by Arbus, it combines just about every theatrical element that exists under the sun...The giant cast crowd the stage and the audience, and almost every single one of them, from lead performers to members of the chorus, have moments to shine...I can’t praise this show enough."
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