Glenn Havlan Photo by Michael Hunter

For the second show of the company's 105th(!) season, they have chosen one of the most unusual, boundary-breaking works of theatre ever written, Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. Rather like some aspects of James Joyce's novel Finnegan's Wake (to which the play has been compared, notably by the late scholar Joseph Campbell), The Skin of Our Teeth takes audiences on a wild ride across three acts, multiple millennia, biblical references, cycling back on itself more than once in ways that are both confusing and engaging.

Each of the three acts focuses on a different cataclysmic event: an ice age, a global deluge, and a seven year's war. The story, such as it is, revolves around the Antrobus family (Antrobus being derived from the Greek for "human") and their struggle to survive in a world that seems bent on destruction of one sort or another. George Antrobus (Glenn Havlan) is the father, and an inventor. In Wilder's creation, George works at an office in the city where he comes up with a variety of "inventions": the wheel, the alphabet, multiplication tables, and beer, among others. His wife Maggie (Michele Sanner Vargas) stays at home, struggling to keep a fire going for warmth against an advancing sheet of ice working its way down from Canada, and watching over their two children, Gladys (Arya Safavi) and the hyper-kinetic Henry (Dominic Marco Canty). (Despite its rather innovative dramatic structure, The Skin of Our Teeth was written in the early years of WWII, and the gender roles reflect that era.) She also keeps an eye on the family pets, a dinosaur (Kevin Allen) and a wooly mammoth (David Cole). The costumes for these two (by Lyre Alston) are adorable, as are the performances, especially Cole's charming elephantine trumpeting. Their maid, Sabina (Nicole Thordsen), smashes the fourth wall to smithereens, regularly speaking directly to the audience and the technical crew.

In Act Two, there's a a massive storm on the way, and George has recently been elected president of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans. Sabina has been transformed into a beauty queen, Ms. Atlantic City, who seduces George, evidently breaking up the 5000-year marriage between him and Maggie. Act Three sees the family emerging from hiding after the war; George and Henry have been off fighting, though on separate sides, making for some tense conflict when both return to the family home, with Henry covered in blood, eyes weary from the carnage he has evidently seen and inflicted.

A play this experimental–and downright wacky–requires total commitment from its cast (and director, in this case, Nic Moore) or it risks descending into pointless silliness. Fortunately, the cast assembled for this production have clearly fully embraced the craziness, to the delight of the opening night audience. Glenn Havlan's George is appropriately imperious, but there's a speech in Act Three where he seems to shed his authoritarian skin, revealing a gentler self. It's almost as if Havlan's George had himself been acting, then leaves aside the role he was playing to become suddenly, vulnerably human. It's a wonderful, touching moment.

The entire cast are fully committed to their roles, but Dominic Marco Canty deserves special recognition for the boundless energy and boyish enthusiasm he brings to the role of Henry. Though a more subtle performance, Nicole Thordsen's Sabina serves as a sort of lodestone for the play, guiding us through its weirdness, and Thordsen is to be commended for her easy transitions between the different aspects of the role.

The action takes place on a set designed by Michael Walraven, with painting by Cindy Morris and Kristy Arroyo which references Picasso's masterwork "Guernica." (Though "Guernica" is realized only in black and white and shades of gray, Morris's and Arroyo's work is in color.) The production is also aided by the sound effects created by Bruce Vieira and Nic Moore, with sound design by Sound Logic, Inc.

Rather like Wilder's other classic play, Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth upends dramatic expectations. And though it demands attention and thoughtfulness to be fully appreciated, it rewards audiences who fully engage with the show with a thrilling dramatic experience.

The Skin of Our Teeth runs through February 15, 2026, at Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Novato CA. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. There is an additional matinee on Saturday, February 7 at 1:00p.m. Tickets are $37 general, and $25 for students/youth. For tickets and information, please visit www.novatotheatercompany.org or call 415-883-4498.