Theater Arts delves into human evolution

This weekend, you can walk through 5000 years of man's existence with Theater Arts' rendition of Thornton Wilder's nightmare--daydream play, The Skin Of Our Teeth. The production, which opens tonight, portrays human beings' evolutionary journey and their survival in the face of the problems they have encountered. The three-act play takes the audience from the onset of the Ice Age, through the Great Flood to the modern day. The dialogue covers topics ranging from unemployment and women's rights to dodging the draft and adultery. Starting to sound like Campaign 1992? There is much more. The second act sees Wilder's Clintonesque male lead character, Anthropology graduate student Brett Meroney, elected to the Presidency of Mankind. Rather than simply following the obvious storyline, however, Director and College senior James Rubin encourages the audience to view the play with a broader application and interpretation. "It's about you, me and all of us," Rubin said. During their journey through progress and evolution, the characters confront wars and natural disasters. The cast members said the important thing to remember is that man eventually prevails. "I think the whole play is absurd," cast member and College sophomore Andrea Kemp said. "But overall, a message of hope comes through." Wilder used a unique style in writing the play. There are "breaks" written in which require the actors to step out of their stage personae and speak directly to the audience. In this way, the audience feels part of, rather than isolated from, the events onstage. This format also puts a lot pressure on the actors because all the actor--audience dialogue is ad--lib. During last night's dress rehearsal, however, most of the improvisation was greeted with cheers and applause, especially the raunchier remarks. "We came up with our own script breaks," Rubin said. "There was a lot of improvisation by the actors." The audience was noticeably pleased with the preview presented last night. Inside jokes referring specifically to the University were particularly well-received. "I thought it was very well executed," College senior Lesley Wolff said. "The fact that they brought in all those contemporary things will make people feel it's a timeless play." This Theater Arts Workshop Production will run tonight and Saturday night at the Studio Theater in the Annenberg Center.