'Teeth' has little comedic bite

The play will continue next weekend.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- Kent Trumbull Theatre's rendition of Thornton Wilder's play "The Skin of Our Teeth" misses the comedic mark.
The play is described as a comedy about the Antrobus family -- George, his wife, two children and general utility maid Sabina, and a host of other lesser characters. The Antrobus family survives an Ice Age, floods, war and family strife with a resilience most in the real world could not help but admire.
Characters run through each potentially life-altering circumstance with attempts at humor that just seem to fall flat on the stage floor. The dialogue and lack of flow in the performance leaves the audience more dazed, confused and struggling to keep up than smiling.
Opening act
The opening act finds the family at home on 216 Cedar St. in Excelsior, N.J., at the height of an Ice Age, with dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures roaming a few feet away from the front door. The Antrobus family, their pet dinosaur and a mammoth did manage to weather the storm, but failed to capture the audience.
At some point during the cold storm, a group of beggars -- in the likenesses of Homer Simpson, The Cat in the Hat, Snow White and several other recognizable characters -- approached the family for warmth. The characters were obviously added to the performance in an attempt at humor, but the laughs just do not come.
Young actress Hannah Waterman as the Antrobus family pet dinosaur is as cute as the proverbial button. The constant moving across the stage by the pink dinosaur, however, is much too distracting.
Second act
The second act finds the Antrobus family on a beach somewhere in New Jersey just before a flood that wipes out mankind. In the style of biblical figure Noah, the family manages to escape that potential tragedy with two of every animal on earth. Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus also deal with a bit of marital strife.
Allyson Hibbard makes an appearance during the second act as a fortune teller who emerges from a large Jack in the Box. Hibbard, for her short time out of the box and on stage, is entertaining and most captivating throughout the entire act.
The family moves on to deal with war, Nazi influences and more family issues before the play's end.
The lessons of perseverance, strength, family, freedom, kindness and the overall joys of life are present in the play if one is willing to look between the misplaced comedy and audience-addressing interruptions to find them. Characters routinely break away from dialogue to address the audience in planned interruptions that destroy the flow of the performance.
Memorable performer
Alyssa Connelly as Sabina, the Antrobus maid and narrator of the play, is one of the most memorable performers. Connelly spends more time before the audience than any other performer and makes good use of the time, drawing at least a few laughs.
Michelle Harvey is likable as Mrs. Antrobus. Staying clear of the comedy for the most part, Harvey makes the audience relate to the character as one would feel for a close friend.
Anyone planning to see this rendition of "Skin of our Teeth" probably will not be disappointed with the overall acting, but be prepared to work hard at keeping up with what is happening on stage, and do not expect too many laughs.