Frederick Stuart, Mildred Marie Langford (Photo by Craig Schwartz)
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
A Noise Within
Through Sept 29
RECOMMENDED
Theater aficionados know Thornton Wilder as the author of that venerable American drama Our Town, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1938. But Wilder also penned The Skin of Our Teeth, a bizarre allegorical comedy that garnered him another Pulitzer in 1943, and is now on display at A Noise Within, under the stellar direction of Julia Rodriquez Elliot and Geoff Elliot.
The play follows the time-traveling Antrobus family of Excelsior, New Jersey as they manage to survive, for thousands of years, calamities of apocalyptic magnitudes — and each other. Head of the clan is Mr. Antrobus (Frederick Stuart), inventor of the alphabet and the wheel; Sabina (Ann Noble) the voluble maid; Mrs. Antrobus (Trisha Miller), daughter Gladys (Mildred-Marie Langford), and son Henry (Christian Henley). And oh, they have also generously opened their home to a dinosaur and wooly mammoth, as well as a tattered bunch of cold-soaked strangers.
We first see them at home in August — the coldest month of the year — barely managing to keep warm — and even reduced to burning furniture — as things grow increasingly colder and a mountainous wave of ice approaches. In Act II, the entire bunch find themselves enjoying the invigorating, sunny environs of Atlantic City, where Mr. Antrobus is knee deep in politics and a problematic love affair with Sabina; he also eventually plays the role of Noah when the latest flood comes calling. The aftermath of a war in Act III becomes a very odd occasion for a family reconciliation and a precarious new beginning.
You’ve got to sit back and just go along with this one, and therein lies the fun. In spite of the chaotic events and format, Wilder searches pertinent issues here, like the tenuousness of human existence and our continuous vulnerability to the fanciful whims of Mother Nature (certainly important in this age of climate change concerns). He also draws material from the book of Genesis.
Cast performances are excellent. The directors have done a masterful job of staging this challenging piece. The technical components are equally impressive, with Frederica Nascimento crafting a beautifully integrated scenic design, complemented by Ken Booth’s lighting and Nicholas Santiago’s alluring projections.
A Noise Within, 3352 E Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. 2 p.m.; thru Sept. 29 Running time: two hours and 20 minutes with one fifteen minute intermission. (626) 356-3100 or www.anoisewithin.org
