BHS Theatre Explores Personal and Societal Disasters with “The Skin of Our Teeth”
The play featured absurd moments and fourth-wall breaks as it tackled the challenges of being human
[Editor’s Note: This story was updated and republished for the Print Edition of The Hoofprint.]
On the weekend of April 16th-18th, Buffalo High School’s Performing Arts Center lit up to debut the theater department’s spring play, The Skin of Our Teeth. While the show might display a series of disasters, the production was not anything of the sort. This culminated in a truly unique and unconventional performance that stands out for its nontraditional style.
Through the combined efforts of the cast, crew, and tech department, The Skin of Our Teeth depicted a complex narrative, pushing the boundaries of what Buffalo High School students could achieve on the stage. The play follows a family that always seemed to be on the verge of falling apart or coming together.
The Skin of Our Teeth bounces from millennium to millennium, showcasing numerous disasters such as the Ice Age, Noah’s ark, the death of the dinosaurs, and even a World War. With all of these disasters, the production works to tie these events into one unified plot.
“This show has quite the combination,” director Debb Bestland said. “You go from act to act, but it’s not in chronological order. It’s just one catastrophe after another.”
What made the show stand out was its stylistic commentary on both current and past events. The production creates chaotic and intentionally hard-to-follow scenes of characters breaking the fourth wall. The director needs to correct the show as it’s being performed, and the set is breaking down in the opening scene, but what’s shown on stage isn’t so different from what happens behind the scenes.
“Reading the script. I was like, ‘Oh no. What did I get myself into?’ Because auditions were the first time we got to see the script, so I was like, ‘Oh no, what is even happening?’” said Benjamin Smith ‘29.
He said, “I watched the first act beforehand, and I was lost five minutes in. It constantly broke the fourth wall, and it was super random.”
This sentiment was shared by many members of the cast. Performers first read the script and were instantly met with the chaos of the show. The unique writing decisions and meta style caused the actors to have trouble following the play.
“There’s some very long dialogue that has to be memorized. So I think that was hard for some of our actors,” said Evelyn Marks ‘29.
“We learned how important it is to pay attention to the show. You have to read the show multiple times before you actually do it so that you know what’s going on.”
Even with the chaotic nature of The Skin of Our Teeth, no troubles were enough to stop the cast. Natalie Schmutzer ‘29 was able to use the strangeness of the script to motivate herself to stay in it.
“I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Honestly, after I read the script, I was thinking, ‘Is it too late to quit?’ But I’m so glad I stayed with it. Even though it’s hard, you have to remember that it’s a theater of the absurd. The script is hard to read. The words are weird, but once you get where you’re going on stage and see what the director wants for you, it’s easy to just throw your lines out and see if your director says, ‘Oh yeah, I like that, ‘ or ‘I’m trying a different way.’ Then from that, you can grow every other part of the play.”
Thornton Wilder wrote the play not only as a satire on the reception of his last play, but also as a look at the drive humans have to recover from disaster. He pulled not only from events of the past, but also from his experiences in World War I. This meant that the play kept a timeless yet retro look at humanity and its triumphs.
It’s always interesting to see work from earlier decades, as it allows the audience to look at the world as those before them saw it. The antique charm that this show brought forth made it a perfect choice for the spring play. After living through a pandemic not so long ago, the audience has seen humanity persevere through difficult times, so choosing to tell this story was a smart decision. It allowed the audience to recontextualize their views on past events.
“I like to go back and see what was really beneficial. What [performances] people do over and over again because they had something in them that made other people resonate with their ideas. That’s kind of what was the impetus for what I chose,” Bestland said.
Whether it be intentional screw-ups, fourth wall breaks, or meta commentary, this production shows humanity’s undying ability to persist, even if it is just by The Skin of Our Teeth.
