Act I

At the opening of The Skin of Our Teeth, images from a slide projector appear on the closed stage curtain. An Announcer narrates these pictures of "News Events of the World," telling the audience about events in both the theater (items left in the lost and found) and the world (a glacier is moving South over Vermont; Mr. George Antrobus has invented the wheel).

When the curtain rises, it reveals the living room of the Antrobus house in suburban Excelsior, New Jersey. Sabina, the sexy maid, gives an opening speech which parodies the clunky expositions that often begin traditional realistic plays: it is six o'clock and Mr. Antrobus is not yet home; it is so cold "dogs are sticking to the sidewalks"; and "the whole world is at sixes and sevens." But before the end of this speech, the actress playing Sabina drops her character and...