July 5, 2018 — This play delightfully breaks all the rules, from actors addressing the audience directly, to expressing reluctance to even being in the play, and lamenting the fact they don't understand the play (neither does the audience at times). At one point, an audience member runs noisily from the theater. Was this part of the play? At the first of two intermissions, the audience sat motionless for several minutes, unsure whether this was really an intermission or another trick of this unpredictable play.
Written by Thornton Wilder and first performed in 1942 at the outbreak of World War II, "The Skin of Our Teeth" won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This production at the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, was directed by Players artistic director Gus Kaikkonen. Charles Morgan's always excellent scenic design provided the clever trickery this play's scenery required, and Lisa Steett-Liebetrau designed a stunning number of costumes for the huge cast.
The play is grounded, more or less, by two of the Players' finest actors, Jack Koenig as George Antrobus, and Dee Nelson as George's wife, Maggie. Tess Borsecnik and K Cody Hunt are their children, Gladys and Henry. But for me the real star was Rebecca Brinkley as the maid, Sabina, in Acts 1 and 3, and Sabina in the person of a beauty queen in Act 2. The energetic Kraig Swartz, just off his stint in a one-man show as Truman Capote, has a smaller but not insignificant role in colorful gypsy drag as a fortune teller.
In Act 1, Sabina, in her brief maid's uniform, dusting the furniture in George and Maggie's modern Excelsior, New Jersey home, lays out the characters' roles in her monologue. George has invented the wheel, alphabet and multiplication tables. An encroaching ice age is threatening to wipe out life on earth. In Act 2, the world has survived the ice age, and George has been elected president of an order of mammals. Sabina appears as a beauty queen intent on separating George from his family. But all this becomes unimportant as the world is now threatened with a biblical flood.
Finally, in Act 3, the world has survived a devastating war. Sabina is now in a sort of military uniform and packing a pistol. Maggie and Gladys emerge from a bomb shelter. Gladys is holding a baby. Their home is in ruins. George and Henry appear. George and Maggie have now been married 5,000 years. George feels defeated. He can't save the world by the skin of his teeth another time. He has a violent fallout with his son, Henry.
There's much more to this play than I've described here. There are backstories. Henry was originally named Cain. He had killed his brother, George's favorite son. This complex play with its cast of over thirty was a remarkable achievement for the Players.
I won't give away the ending. There is no ending. It comes around full circle, like James Joyce's
Finnegans Wake which the play has been compared to. Sabina, back in George and Maggie's apartment in her maid's uniform, dusting the furniture, will tell the audience when they may go home.
July 21, 2018 — The 9th Misselwood Concours d'Elegance at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts may have been the best yet. This antique and classic car show, held on the northern Massachusetts coast with views of the sea from high cliffs, has had its scenic setting partially spoiled with cloudy conditions, drizzle and a couple of rain-outs in its relatively short history. In fact, this year's show was moved from Sunday to Saturday after dire forecasts for all-day rain on Sunday.
July 19, 2018 — The Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, is presenting J. B. Priestley's most famous play, "An Inspector Calls." Many are familiar with this play, but I had never seen it, nor did I have any knowledge of the plot, staged so many times since it was written in 1944-45.
July 15, 2018 — Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire, one of the state's most popular tourist attractions with its trained bears and circus acts, water slide, train rides, the Wolf Man, Segway rides, gift shops, etc., put on a car show. I heard it wasn't the first, but no one could remember when they had their last one. It was a relatively small show, but featured some exceptional vehicles.
July 14, 2018 — I was in Tamworth, New Hampshire, Thursday evening for a show at The Barnstormers, when I just happened to walk by the Tamworth History Center property and spotted a sign promoting a car show Saturday. The show hadn't been listed on any of the usual internet car show schedules, and I had never heard of a car show being held in Tamworth before. So just on a whim, I returned to Tamworth Saturday to see what they had to offer.
July 12, 2018 — For the second play of their 88th season, The Barnstormers in Tamworth, New Hampshire, presented "We Have Always Lived in the Castle," a play adapted by Hugh Wheeler from the 1962 novel by Shirley Jackson. A family living in isolation after a sensational mass murder consists of Constance Blackwood (Angela Hope Smith), her younger 15-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, also known as Merricat (Miranda Reilly) and brother Jonas (Connor White), nearer 12. (I apologize if I misspelled his name. It has two "n's" in the program, one in his profile.)
July 8, 2018 — It was the second day in a row of perfect weather for the 47th annual Bay State Antique Auto Club Car Show at the Endicott Estate in Dedham, Massachusetts. This show often hosts over a thousand cars, and I would estimate this show was close to that number. Every type of car was represented, from custom jobs and street rods to brass era relics from the 20s. It's a photogenic venue, with the mansion as a centerpiece and cupolas placed here and there. Shelter is always nearby from hot sun or a sudden rainstorm.
July 7, 2018 — After the heat and oppressive humidity of last weekend's Carriagetown Car Show in Amesbury, this Saturday's show at Castle in the Clouds in Moultonboro, New Hampshire, was about as good as summer weather gets in New England. The day started off with temperature in the 60s, but warmed to the low 80s by late morning. The most important factor was the total absence of humidity. As you'll see in my photos, skies were completely cloudless most of the day. Those are perfect conditions for comfort, but high summer sun is not the best lighting for photography. Photos appear rather flat because of absence of shadows. The shadows of spring and fall give better definition. But total perfection is hard to achieve. Saturday was almost as close to it as we can get.
July 5, 2018 — This play delightfully breaks all the rules, from actors addressing the audience directly, to expressing reluctance to even being in the play, and lamenting the fact they don't understand the play (neither does the audience at times). At one point, an audience member runs noisily from the theater. Was this part of the play? At the first of two intermissions, the audience sat motionless for several minutes, unsure whether this was really an intermission or another trick of this unpredictable play.
July 1, 2018 — I've passed up many car shows because of bad weather, but that usually means rain. In fact, I've even seen a few snowflakes at early spring or late fall shows. But for the first time I was having second thoughts about attending Mayor Gray's Carriagetown Car Show in Amesbury, Massachusetts because of the heat forecast. Meteorologists were predicting temperature in the 90s, with high humidity making it feel like 100 degrees or over. This was the beginning of a withering heat wave that would continue for a week.
