The Skin of Our Teeth

In This Program

• From the Artistic Director
• About the Show
• For Our Patrons
• Cast
• Creative Team
• Beginning Again (and Again) (and Again)
• In Memoriam: Bruce E.H. Johnson
• Print Edition
• More About Seattle Rep

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the beginning of our 2024/25 Season! On behalf of all of us at the theater, we are thrilled that you’re here to experience our Seattle-made production of Thornton Wilder’s incomparable comedic epic, The Skin of Our Teeth. This massive and ambitious classic also happens to be absurdly funny and utterly of the moment. It’s a comic fantasia about endings and new beginnings, and a love letter to human endurance—one that resonates most when the world is on the brink of change. In a time of heightened anxiety and divisiveness around the globe, it seems fitting to begin with a play about humanity’s infinite capacity to build a better world.

I hope today will be the first of many visits you’ll make to the Theater over the next several months. Between now and June 2025, we are creating a mix of classic and contemporary shows, more than half of them comedies, and all drawing on the expertise of Seattle’s theater-makers in collaboration with peers from around the country.

Up next after The Skin of Our Teeth is Primary Trust by Eboni Booth (Oct. 24 – Nov. 24, 2024). A winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this fresh and completely uncynical comedy about a young man with an imaginary friend offers an escape from the world we live in and a vision of a better one.

As we head into the holiday season, Noël Coward’s improbable farce, Blithe Spirit (Nov. 29 – Dec. 22, 2024), offers an escape of a different kind: a wildly fun romp about a séance gone awry, filled with ghosts and British accents but nary a mistletoe in sight! This irreverent gem from one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century offers a great opportunity to bring friends and family together for a much-needed laugh.

In the new year we will transport you to Harlem in the 1930s with Pearl Cleage’s classic drama, Blues for an Alabama Sky (Jan. 30 – Feb. 23, 2025). This lyrical and riveting story is filled with characters you’ll come to love, who face complex choices that feel heartbreakingly relevant to our present moment. It’s a gorgeous play not to be missed.

Overwhelming choices are a big theme for our next show, a world premiere developed here in Seattle by Lauren Yee called Mother Russia (March 6 – April 6, 2025). This quirky geo-political comedy about a couple of wannabe spies who fall for the pop star they’ve been hired to surveil has a secret mission: to expose how easily authoritarian regimes can arise from a vacuum in power. 

Spring brings Laughs in Spanish by Alexis Scheer (April 17 – May 11, 2025), a madcap mother-daughter comedy set in motion when a full gallery of paintings go missing at Art Basel in Miami. Hilarious plot twists abound, but this is a story about what we do for the people we love. Seattle may be my hometown now, but Miami is where I was born and raised, and I can’t wait to introduce you to characters and a culture close to my heart.

Finally, we’ll wrap up with the return of Montreal’s renowned cirque company The 7 Fingers and their new show Duel Reality (May 29 – June 22, 2025). Make plans to bring the whole family to cheer on this head-to-head cirque battle inspired by the feuding families in Romeo and Juliet. It’s a familiar story presented in a way you’ve never seen before, with an ending you'd never expect.

There’s so much to look forward to in the season ahead! For now, however: let’s begin.

All my best,

Dámaso Rodríguez
Artistic Director

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Dámaso Rodríguez   |   MANAGING DIRECTOR Jeffrey Herrmann

By
Thornton Wilder

Directed By
Dámaso Rodríguez

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

† Actors will perform on the following dates unless an announcement is made at the time of the performance:
T. Detrano: 9/26, 9/28, 10/2, 10/4, 10/5 EVE, 10/6 EVE, 10/10, 10/12 MAT, 10/13 MAT, 10/16 EVE, 10/17 MAT, 10/18, 10/19 EVE
A. Haskel: 9/27, 10/1, 10/3, 10/5 MAT, 10/6 MAT, 10/9, 10/11, 10/12 EVE, 10/13 EVE, 10/16 MAT, 10/17 EVE, 10/19 MAT, 10/20

Producing Partners

Stephen Behnen, Mary Hornsby & Julia Behnen

Title Sponsor

Associate Sponsors

Clark Nuber P.S.
Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP

Season Sponsor

September 26 – October 20, 2024 | Bagley Wright Theater

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH © 1942 The Wilder Family LLC
Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd | www.alanbrodie.com

We welcome you to take pictures of the set before and after the show.

Share Your Photos 

#SkinofOurTeethSREP
@seattlerep

Photography, recording, and use of cell phones are strictly prohibited during the performance. 

Mission 

Seattle Rep collaborates with extraordinary artists to create productions and programs that reflect and elevate the diverse cultures, perspectives, and life experiences of our region. 

Vision 

Theater at the heart of public life.  

Values 

Artistic Vitality
Sustainability
Generous and Inclusive Practices 

Code of Conduct 

Seattle Rep is committed to being a racially, culturally, and socially just organization. We promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of the work we do, and uphold a safe environment wherein all people are welcome to our space and are treated with respect and dignity.

It is our expectation that all patrons and those affiliated with Seattle Rep will align with this code of conduct and we reserve the right to relocate or remove any person from our theater who disregards this expectation.

Land Acknowledgment 

Seattle Rep acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the Coast Salish people. We honor with gratitude the land itself and its innumerable stewards, past and present. We recognize Washington’s tribal nations, all of the Tribal signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott, and the urban Native communities who continue to live and thrive in this space. This acknowledgment does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, but serves as a first step in honoring the land we are on and the people and cultures it has nurtured.

Learn more about how Seattle Rep is working to support and build relationships with Native communities.

Emergencies 

In an evacuation, wait for an announcement for further instructions. Ushers will be available for assistance. Familiarize yourself with the exit route nearest your seat.   

Accessibility 

Seattle Rep is committed to accessibility for all and will work with patrons to accommodate requests. We offer a variety of options to help make our performances accessible.

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES: We offer select English and Spanish Open Captioned, Audio Described, ASL-Interpreted, Sensory-Friendly, and mask-required  performances. Find dates here or contact the Box Services Office for more information.

HEARING LOOP: Seattle Rep is equipped with hearing loops that transmit sound directly to t-coil enabled hearing devices. There are also receivers and headphones available to borrow at Coat Check. Look for the Hearing Loop signs which indicate coverage at performances, ticket windows, concierge, and concessions.  

WHEELCHAIR SPACES, WIDER SEATS (BAGLEY), TRANSFER SEATS, AND ADDITIONAL SEATING OPTIONS: Please see an Usher or House Manager to see what accessible seating options are available for your performance.  

SENSORY GUIDES & KITS: Scene-by-scene guides of the sensory impact of this show and kits containing headphones, fidgets, sunglasses, and communication cards are available at Coat Check.  

LARGE PRINT & BRAILLE PROGRAMS: Available at Coat Check. 

ALL GENDER RESTROOMS are located on the second floor of the Leo K. Theater and a single-stall restroom is located near the Bagley Wright Theater restrooms on the first floor.  

WELLNESS ROOM is located near the Bagley Wright Theater restrooms on the first floor.  

Contact Us 

BOX OFFICE 
Call 206.443.2222
Text 206.565.2996 

ADMINISTRATIVE
206.443.2210 

ADDRESS 
155 Mercer St.
Seattle, WA 98109 

Laura Crotte

Muse/Fortune Teller/Ensemble

Regional: Quixote Nuevo (Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, South Coast Repertory, Denver Center for the Performing Arts); Under a Baseball Sky (The Old Globe); Mushroom (People’s Light); On the Wings of a Mariposa (First Stage); La Ruta (Steppenwolf); Yasmina’s Necklace, Sins of Sor Juana, Mariela in the Desert, Electricidad, Esperanza Rising (Goodman Theatre); Into the Beautiful North (16th Street Theater); Blind Mouth Singing, Another Part of the House (Teatro Vista). International: Cuarteto (Cuba); Pedro Páramo (Canada); Bernarda Alba (Peru, Argentina); many productions in México. lauracrotte.org

Theodore Detrano

Telegraph Boy/Ensemble

Theodore Detrano (he/him) is a seventh-grade student excited to be making his Seattle Rep debut! This is Theo’s second professional production, having previously appeared in The Nerd at Taproot Theatre Company. Theo has performed and taken classes at Seattle Children’s Theatre, Stone Soup Theatre, and Seattle’s Littlest Performers. Theo’s diverse interests include babysitting, role-playing games, baseball, and soccer. He has a brown belt from Emerald City Karate where he hopes to earn his black belt before graduating high school. Theo thanks his friends and family for all their support!

Sunam Ellis

The Stage Manager/Muse/Ensemble

Sunam Ellis is grateful to be back at Seattle Rep for this epic production! Graduating from University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program (PATP) in 2015, she has since worked on local productions with ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Public Theater, Sound Theatre Company, ArtsWest, and The Seagull Project. Favorite local roles include Dorothy in Mrs. Caliban, Margery in Hand to God (Gregory Award recipient), and Bala in Sheathed (Gregory Award nominee). Joshua: tamr. Nolan, Jacob, and Moira: mama loves you!

Viviana Garza

Mammoth/Muse/Co-Anchor/Ensemble, Fight Captain

Viviana Garza (she/they) is thrilled to be performing again at Seattle Rep, having played Antonia/Inez in Quixote Nuevo and Super Six in The Tempest during the 2023/24 Season, and is honored to help open the new season at Seattle Rep in this show. Past credits include Cost of Living (Sound Theatre Company); In the Time of the Butterflies (Book-It Repertory Theatre); Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet (Seattle Shakespeare Company); Sister Act (Taproot Theatre Company); and 9 to 5 (Showtunes Theatre Company).

Bradley Goodwill

Bradley Goodwill (he/him) is over the moon to make his Seattle Rep debut and to be working again with Dámaso Rodríguez. Local credits include Paradise Lost (Intiman Theatre), Colder Than Here (As If Theatre Company), Carmilla (The Shattered Glass Project), and The Tempest (Seattle Shakespeare Company). Regionally he has appeared at The Cleveland Play House, New Harmony Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, and Cape Cod’s Monomoy Theatre. On screen he can be seen in episodes of “Grimm,” “Z Nation,” and “The Librarians,” as well as the films The Architect, Warmuffin, and The Very Private Work of Sister K.

Tim Gouran

Announcer/Homer/Ensemble

Tim Gouran (he/him) couldn’t be more excited to be back at Seattle Rep with such an amazing group of folks. He was last on stage at Seattle Rep in Sherlock Holmes and The American Problem. He is a Seattle-based actor and has performed with many Seattle theaters including Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, New City Theater, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Theatre22, and Azeotrope. He got his start with Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. He has appeared in several movies and TV episodes, as well as many voice overs for radio and video games.

Rachel Guyer-Mafune

Gladys

Rachel Guyer-Mafune (she/her) is elated to be back at Seattle Rep after appearing in The Tempest last summer! She is a fourth-generation Seattleite and an ACT Core Company member. Past credits include The Bed Trick, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry IV, As You Like It, Hamlet, and The Winter’s Tale (Seattle Shakespeare Company); The Wolves, WAD (ACT); Howl’s Moving Castle (Book-It Repertory Theatre); The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion, Snowed In (ArtsWest); Wonder Boy (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Hometown Boy (Seattle Public Theater); Feathers and Teeth (Washington Ensemble Theatre).

Aaron Haskel

Telegraph Boy/Ensemble

This is Aaron’s first professional performance. He has been passionate about acting since he was very young and appeared in many school plays. In his free time, he enjoys video games, basketball, and flag football. He currently lives in West Seattle with his parents and two older sisters.

Sara Hennessy

Sabina

Sara (she/her) is a two-time LA Drama Critics Circle Award winner and an LA Weekly Award nominee. A recent Seattle transplant, she is thrilled to make her Seattle Rep debut and return to The Skin of Our Teeth for a third time. Sara was a co-founder and co-artistic director of the acclaimed Furious Theatre in LA. She has worked at Artists Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, and A Noise Within, among others. She performed improv at Chicago’s iO Theatre and has appeared on NBC’s “Grimm” and Netflix’s “Trinkets.” She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. sarahennessy.com

Emily Kuroda

Mrs. Antrobus

Theater credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville with Dámaso Rodríguez (we, the invisibles), TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (Tiger Style, Language Archives, Calligraphy), Seattle Rep (Ballad of Yachiyo), New York Theatre Workshop (Endlings), Pan Asian Repertory Theatre (Brothers Paranormal), American Repertory Theater (Endlings), Page 73 (Today is My Birthday), Huntington Theatre Company (Tiger Style, Woman Warrior), South Coast Repertory, East West Players, The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Singapore Repertory Theatre, LA Women's Shakespeare Company. Upcoming film: Flowervale with Anne Hathaway.

Carlos Lacámara

Mr. Antrobus

Carlos has appeared in over 100 television shows including “Barry,” “The Shrink Next Door,” “The Good Doctor,” “Suits,” “Mighty Med,” “The Resident,” “The Goldbergs,” and “The Garcias.” Carlos was a child when his family fled Cuba. His visit to the island many years later inspired him to write a trilogy of plays, Becoming Cuban, Havana Bourgeois, and Exiles. His trilogy, along with his other plays Nowhere on the Border and Cuba Libre, have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Portland. He also wrote a novel, Eliza and the Alchemist, which is available on Amazon. Buy it. It’s good.

Ally Poole

Muse/Convention Singer/Ensemble

Ally (she/her) is delighted to be making her Seattle Rep debut! Ally is an actor, sound artist, writer, and educator. She is a co-collaborator of the online performance collective Hot Cousin, and an adjunct at Western Washington University. She holds a M.F.A. in Advanced Theatre Practice from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and a B.F.A. in Acting from Stephens College. Credits include Women of Troy (Arcola Theatre), Iron (Edinburgh Fringe), Crooked (Kitchen Theater Company), Coriolanus (Shakespeare Dallas), Hotel Berry (Tantrum Theater). Love to Tommy, Dad, and Mom. ally-poole.com

Chip Sherman

Henry, Dance Captain

Last seen at Seattle Rep as Tio in Fat Ham. Chip (they/them) is an ACT Core Company member, known along the West Coast as Isis in and out of the Drag Duo LüChi, and as one of the founding parents of the kiki ballroom house The Royal House of Noir. Beloved local credits include The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (The Feast); Macbeth (Seattle Shakespeare Company); Corduroy (Seattle Children’s Theatre); The Picture of Dorian Gray (Book-It Repertory Theatre); A Christmas Carol and Alex and Aris (ACT). Thanks for supporting diverse theater, the world needs it now more than ever! VOTE! @chi.sherman

Arlando Smith

Doctor/Co-Anchor/Ensemble

Arlando is so happy to return to Seattle Rep after understudying in Fat Ham earlier this year. Elsewhere locally, his work has been seen at ACT, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Opera, Seattle Public Theater, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Spectrum Dance Theater, Town Hall, and Village Theatre. Further afield, he has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and The Public Theater in New York. arlandosmith.com

Mike Wu

Dinosaur/Broadcast Official/Ensemble

Mike is thrilled to return to Seattle Rep since appearing in The Tempest (2023). His previous credits include The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Comedy of Errors (Seattle Shakespeare Company); Unrivaled, Hometown Boy, Christmastown (Seattle Public Theater); Mamma Mia!, Sense & Sensibility (u/s performed) (Village Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Crucible, Mamma Mia!, and Twelfth Night (Pacific Conservatory Theater). He would like to thank his family and friends for their support, and you for joining us tonight!

Community Ensemble

See above for our Community Ensemble casts and view their bios at SeattleRep.org.

Thornton Wilder

Playwright

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was a novelist and playwright whose works celebrate the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. He is the only writer to win Pulitzer Prizes for both drama and fiction: for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and two plays, Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth. Other novels include The Ides of March, The Eighth Day, and Theophilus North. Other major dramas include The Matchmaker (adapted into the musical Hello, Dolly!) and The Alcestiad. He wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt and enjoyed success as a translator, adaptor, actor, librettist, and lecturer. thorntonwilder.com

Dámaso Rodríguez

Director

Dámaso Rodríguez’s (he/him) credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, GableStage, Intiman Theatre, A Noise Within, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and South Coast Repertory. Prior to joining Seattle Rep as Artistic Director, he served as Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR, where he produced 60 productions. He also co-founded LA’s Furious Theatre and served as Associate Artistic Director of Pasadena Playhouse. Awards include LA Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage Garland, and NAACP Theatre. Member of SDC. damasorodriguez.com

Stephanie Kerley Schwartz

Scenic Designer

Scenery for Magellanica, directed by Dámaso Rodríguez at Artists Repertory Theatre. Resident designer at Rogue Machine in LA. For Center Theatre Group, Schwartz designed costumes for The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Harps and Angels and set design for Good Grief at The Kirk Douglas Theatre. Other credits include A Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, and East West Players. Recipient of multiple awards and nominations, including the LA Drama Critics Circle/Kinetic Award for Distinguished Achievement. kerleydesign.com

Angela Balogh Calin

Costume Designer

Born in Bucharest, Romania, Angela calls Southern California home. Credits: Denver Center for the Performing Arts, South Coast Repertory, National Theatre Bucharest, Asolo Repertory Theatre, A Noise Within, Milwaukee Rep, The Hollywood Bowl, Alliance Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Pasadena Playhouse, The Old Globe. Awards include LA Drama Critics Circle, Cleveland Drama Critics, Back Stage Garland. Resident artist at A Noise Within, member of USA Local 829 and the Scenographer’s Union in Romania. M.F.A. in Costume and Scenic Design from the National University of Arts Bucharest – Romania.

Robert J. Aguilar

Lighting Designer

Designs for Seattle Rep: Lydia and the Troll, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Indecent, In the Heights, MAC BETH, I Am My Own Wife, Lizard Boy, and others. Regional credits include Portland Center Stage, ACT (Seattle), The 5th Avenue Theatre, The Old Globe, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Intiman Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Rep, and Village Theatre. Film: The Jinkx and Dela Holiday Special, Potato Dreams of America. Robert is Lighting Director at Seattle Rep and a member of USA829. robertjaguilar.com

M.L. Dogg

Sound Designer

M.L. Dogg has designed for Swim Pony, The Feast, Alley Theatre, Primary Stages, Second Stage Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Huntington Theatre Company, WP Theater, Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Colt Coeur, Roundabout Theatre Company, Royal National Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, and Nicholas Ward Productions. Broadway: Gutenberg! The Musical!; Here Lies Love; Straight White Men; Oh, Hello on Broadway; The Pee-wee Herman Show. Lucille Lortel and FringeNYC Awards winner; Tony, Drama Desk, IRNE, and IT Award nominee. Assistant Professor of Sound Design at University of Washington.

Megan Wilkerson

Projections Designer

A visual storyteller and designer whose work is rooted in research, and specificity of time and space, Megan expresses herself through both scenery and video. Designs include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Portland Center Stage, Skylight Opera, OrpheusPDX, Portland Opera, Michigan Opera, Artists Repertory Theatre, and First Stage Children’s Theatre. Megan’s work includes Creative and Art Director for advertising and film, including Laika Animation, Derse Exhibits, Jack Morton, and Sparks. meganwilkerson.com

Orlando G. Morales

Composer & Music Director

Orlando G. Morales (he/him) is a musician, educator, and theatermaker from Seattle. He currently serves as Artistic Director for the Tacoma Refugee Choir and has over eighteen years of experience teaching music and theater. He is a Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project alum and a 2024-25 Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellow. Orlando is a co-founder of Rondalya sa Seattle, a Filipino American folkloric music ensemble, and is a member of the Shades of Praise Gospel Choir at St. Therese Parish in Seattle. orlandogmorales.com

Charlie Johnson

Choreographer

Direction and/or choreography credits include Cymbeline (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Head Over Heels (Cornish College of the Arts), Far From Canterbury (The Barnstormers Theatre), Urinetown! (ACT/The 5th Avenue Theatre), Swingtime Canteen (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre), and ...Good Man, Charlie Brown (Flat Rock Playhouse). Additional credits include productions with Paper Mill Playhouse, North Carolina Theatre, Taproot Theatre Company, Bay Street Theater, FringeNYC, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and Village Theatre. B.F.A. Elon University. charliejohnsoncreates.com

Hattie Claire Andres

Associate Director

Past collaborations with Seattle Rep’s Public Works include directing The Tempest (2023) and the virtual Twelfth Night adaptation (2020) and serving as the Resident Associate Director since 2017. As a freelance director, producer, and teaching artist, Hattie (she/her) has worked extensively with The 5th Avenue Theatre, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Village Theatre, One Coast Collaboration, Seattle Theatre Group, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and the Playwrights’ Center. Love and gratitude to the Public Works community for all the years of Equity, Imagination, and Joy.

Paul Adolphsen

Dramaturg

Paul Adolphsen (he/him) is a Seattle-based dramaturg, writer, and literary manager. He has been on the artistic staff at Seattle Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Paul has also worked as a dramaturg with Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Ashland New Plays Festival, and with other companies around the U.S. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) and his writing about theater and performance has been published in Theatre Journal, on howlround.com, and by Penumbra Theatre Company. M.F.A. University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Geoffrey Alm 

Fight Director 

Geoffrey (he/him) is thrilled to return to Seattle Rep, where his work was last seen in Fat Ham. Recent: A Thousand Splendid Suns, Pagliacci (Fight & Intimacy Director, Seattle Opera); Sweat (ACT); The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Phoenix Theater); Camelot (Fight & Intimacy Director, Village Theatre). National credits: Lincoln Center, McCarter Theatre, KCRep, Santa Cruz Shakespeare. Mr. Alm teaches stage combat at Cornish College of the Arts, UW, and Freehold Theatre. Certified teacher, fight director, and Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors. Proud member of SDC. geoffreyalm.com 

Stina Lotti

Production Stage Manager

Production Stage Manager, Seattle Rep. Select stage management credits: The Winter’s Tale, The Odyssey, As You Like It (Seattle Rep’s Public Works); The Servant of Two Masters (Seattle Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, ArtsEmerson); Fat Ham, MAC BETH, Here Lies Love, A Raisin in the Sun, All the Way, The Great Society, The Piano Lesson, Fences, Gem of the Ocean (Seattle Rep); Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Angels in America, A Doctor In Spite of Himself (Intiman Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun (Pittsburgh Public Theater).

Bret Torbeck

Stage Manager

Bret Torbeck (he/him) is thrilled to be joining the Skin of Our Teeth company and working with so many Public Works heroes. Previous work at Seattle Rep includes The Tempest, What the Constitution Means to Me, The Time of Your Life, Restoration Comedy, Proof, and Topdog/Underdog. Recently he has enjoyed working at ACT and Seattle Opera. His day job is getting to work with the inspiring students at Cornish College of the Arts as Associate Professor of Stage Management. He is a board member of Seattle Public Theater.

Jessica C. Bomball

First Assistant Stage Manager

Jessica (she/her) is delighted to be back at Seattle Rep. Regional theater highlights include Little Women, Lydia and the Troll, Bruce, Teenage Dick, Indecent, and Tiny Beautiful Things (Seattle Rep); Once on This Island, Becoming Dr. Ruth (Village Theatre); The Secret Garden, Disney’s Aladdin, and A Christmas Story: The Musical (The 5th Avenue Theatre); The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Seattle Children’s Theatre); A Christmas Carol (ACT); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika (Intiman Theatre); King Lear (Santa Cruz Shakespeare).

Anna Vraney

Assistant Stage Manager

Anna Vraney is so excited to be back at Seattle Rep for this production. She is a graduate of Western Washington University and was a 2019/20 Stage Management Apprentice in Seattle Rep’s Professional Arts Training Program. Some previous credits include Once on This Island, Hello, Dolly! (Village Theatre); Stew, Choir Boy (ACT); Goodnight Moon (Seattle Children’s Theatre); Into the Woods (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Shout, Sister, Shout!, The Children (Seattle Rep); and Always…Patsy Cline (Taproot Theatre Company).

Amy Jurkiewicz

Youth Guardian

Amy (she/her) is happy to be back at Seattle Rep after previously working on Mr. Dickens and His Carol, What the Constitution Means to Me, A Raisin in the Sun, Well, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and multiple Public Works productions. Other credits include productions at The 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Opera, and Village Theatre.

Special Thanks

The 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT Theatre, Marcia Arthur, The Book Mongers, Lauren Dong, Joi Elise Green, Lime Scooters, Logan Mecklenburg, Donovan Olsen, Willie Pugh, The Seattle Mariners, Maureen “Mo” Wilhelm

Beginning Again (and Again) (and Again)

Beyond the Stage

The Skin of Our Teeth director Dámaso Rodríguez has had a more than 20-year relationship with Thornton Wilder’s epic comedy. Seattle Rep sat down to chat with Dámaso about this theater lover’s “bucket-list” show, how the production you’re about to see is entirely unique, and more.

Seattle Rep: What is your history with this classic play? 

Dámaso Rodríguez: I’ve been studying The Skin of Our Teeth since I first encountered this play 25 years ago as a directing intern at Los Angeles’ classical repertory theater, A Noise Within. (For the record, I played the Woolly Mammoth in that production.) I later produced and directed a production in 2016 during my tenure as Artistic Director of Portland, Oregon’s Artists Repertory Theatre. Today’s Seattle Rep production builds upon an approach to the play that I developed nearly a decade ago. 

SR: Written in 1942, The Skin of Our Teeth was playwright Thornton Wilder's response to World War II. How do you see this play speaking to audiences today? Why this play, now? 

DR: Like all enduring art, it contains varied layers of meaning and continues to resonate with universal truths about humanity’s complicated contradictions. Yet, the play’s primary purpose is to help us see the best in ourselves as a community. It celebrates our infinite capacity to learn, to love, and to begin again after adversity. It’s a play for times of collective anxiety and when the world is on the brink of change (like now!).  

SR: From a directorial perspective, how are you approaching this piece? What are some unique differences in this production that audiences may not have seen elsewhere? 

DR: Our production incorporates a “past, present, and future” approach to Wilder’s three-act cyclical structure, and takes the play’s “fourth wall”-breaking meta-theatricality as far as we can. Act One is set in 1963, the year Seattle Rep was founded. Act Two is set in the summer of 2024, and Act Three in a not-too-distant future (amid circumstances I won’t spoil here). 

SR: Can you speak about the role of the Community Ensemble in this production? 

DR: The plot of the play is at once about the Antrobus family facing ever-impending catastrophes through the millennia, but it’s also about a theater company struggling to perform through a series of succeeding mishaps. Today’s performance will feature a professional cast of 14 actors, supported by a rotating Community Ensemble of 12, and as many as 14 additional one-time-only walk-on performers. That’s up to 40 people on stage together each show in a one-of-a-kind performance that can never be duplicated—a modification that was enthusiastically approved by the Wilder Estate. We hope this community-engaged participatory approach makes each performance vividly live up to the play’s title and reminds us of the always ephemeral nature of theater.  

SR: What do you hope audiences take away from this show? 

DR: My favorite line is spoken by Mr. Antrobus late in the play. He says, “I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for—whether it’s a field, or a home, or a country.” When I hear this line, I always follow it in my mind with the added words, “or a THEATER!” I hope audiences will be inspired to think about the good and excellent things in our world and then work together to preserve them. 

SR: Is there anything else you want audiences to know? 

DR: Antrobus means “Human.” The Antrobus family is therefore meant to be the “Human Family” as we’ve evolved (or haven’t!) through the ages. The characters of George, Maggie, Henry, Gladys, Sabina, and others each at various moments in the play personify facets of human nature, from our civil, brave, generous, and loving virtues, to our selfish, petty, barbaric, and shameful vices. As the Fortune Teller will say in Act Two, “They are your hope. Your despair. Your selves.” 

Thornton Niven Wilder Chronology

This Wilder chronology, provided by the Wilder family, details the long, incredible life of the acclaimed American playwright and novelist. 1897 Born in Madison, Wisconsin (April 17 1906 Moves to Hong Kong in May and to Berkeley, California in October 1906–10 Emerson Public School in Berkeley 1910–11 China

Encore+Shaun Swick

Bruce Johnson, a longtime member of Seattle Rep’s Trustee Family, passed away on August 20, 2024. He was a true champion of the arts and one of the longest-tenured trustees ever to serve Seattle Rep, both on the Theater’s Board of Directors (1993–2020) and on the Board of the Seattle Rep Foundation (2004–2024), which stewards our endowment. 

While Bruce also served a term as Chair of the Theater Board (2004–2006), he spent the past 13 years as Chair of the Foundation Board and may be remembered best for his legacy in building strong collaboration and mission alignment between those two bodies. His steady leadership ensured a shared understanding of the balance between stewarding endowment resources and meeting the Theater’s ongoing needs. Bruce began every tough conversation by asking what was best for Seattle Rep; that was truly his compass. 

Bruce was an enthusiastic ambassador for Seattle Rep, constantly encouraging friends to attend the Theater and building great memories here with his family—including an especially joyful outing to the 2022 world premiere of our Jaws-themed musical, Bruce.  

Sometimes Bruce’s personal and professional interests aligned in unexpected ways. As an attorney revered for his expertise in First Amendment rights, he recognized that art exists to push boundaries. And as part of his countless hours of pro bono work with Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, his longtime firm, Bruce advised Seattle Rep about what to do when the shows on our stages spurred public outcry or demonstrations. 

Together with our colleagues at Seattle Opera, his other artistic home, we will miss Bruce’s gentle humor and sharp insight. There was no one more devoted to the arts in our community.

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