The Skin of Our Teeth to be Performed at Union College

Professor Dan Covington is flanked by the two leading actresses (left) Angie Armstrong and (right) Elisha Comer in the play "The Skin of Our Teeth." As George Antrobus (a.k.a. Adam), he is caught between the charms of Lily, the "eternal other woman" and his wife, Eve.

Come to the Rector Little Theatre to see if we, the human race, will survive yet another natural or man-made disaster by The Skin of Our Teeth!

Believe it or not, this production is a comedy. Scheduled to open Thursday, October 27, performances continue October 28, 29 and November 4 and 5. Curtain for all performances is 8:00 p.m. Tickets will be on sale at the door prior to performances and admission is $5.00.

Thornton Wilder, author of another American classic, Our Town, wrote The Skin of Our Teeth during WWII to buck up the spirits of a nation at war. This comic allegory deals with the tribulations and triumphs of the Antrobus family: George and Maggie and their children, Henry and Gladys. An outsider and yet always a part of the family is Lily Sabina, the eternal "other woman."

The ice age is the threat facing mankind in the first act. George Antrobus has just invented the wheel, separated M from N, and devised the decimal system. The family lives in a modest home with their pets (a mammoth and a dinosaur) right handy to a Walmart and a United Methodist Church.

The threat in the second act is the erosion of moral values and ends with a flood; the family escapes on a boat loaded with animals-two of a kind.

The third act starts in the aftermath of a war, a war in which Henry, a Cain figure, turns out to be the enemy. The question raised by the play is: is mankind worth saving?

Dan Covington, a veteran of thirteen UCT productions, plays George Antrobus, a character that is at once full of euphoric optimism and profound doubts. Elisha Comer, a theatre major in her final appearance onstage, takes on the part of Maggie Antrobus, the solid core that holds the family together.

Joining Covington and Comer as Lily Sabina is Angie Armstrong, a spirited and talented newcomer to the UCT stage. Senior Business major and veteran cheerleader, Chris Garland performs the part of Henry, while freshman newcomer Elle Williams plays daddy's little pet, Gladys.

Danny Nettleton, last seen as the murderous son in the thriller An Act of the Imagination, returns to play a Broadcaster. Cecelia Hicks, a graduate of Corbin High School who appeared in The Good Doctor joins the cast as a Jeremiah figure forecasting the Flood. Tommy Ruth, a UC graduate (and basketball star) who is now a member of the College's staff, plays a Telegraph Boy.

Rounding out the cast, playing a variety of roles, are newcomers Maggie Grimm, Bethany Hopkins, Anthony Miles, Stephen O'Donoghue, Dustin Sizemore, Callie Weddle, and almost newcomer, Joe Bear Hammons.

Gabrielle Mellendorf, an indispensable member of the UCT family, heads the technical staff as Stage Manager. She is joined by Elisha Comer as Technical Director, Melissa Garrett as Wardrobe Mistress, and newcomer Elise Ratterman as Props Manager. Other members of the technical staff are Crystal Messer, Stephen O'Donoghue (set painter), Nichole Ott, Michael Miles, Christopher Osborne, Elizabeth Lambdin, Margaret Grimm, Dustin Sizemore, and Melissa Hoskins.

October 19, 2005

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