The Skin of Our Teeth

ACT ONE

An Announcer reports the news of the world. It was previously reported that the world would be ending today. However, The Society for Affirming the End of the World has now postponed the event for 24 hours. Although the world continues to exist, the conditions are not ideal. There is a wall of ice that is rapidly moving south from Canada towards the USA, leading to the coldest days on record in the middle of August. In suburban Excelsior, New Jersey, the Announcer introduces the audience to Mr. George Antrobus, a genius inventor; Maggie Antrobus, the president of the Excelsior Mothers’ Club; their two children, Henry and Gladys; and their maid, Lily Sabina.

Sabina frets as Mr. Antrobus is late coming home. Sabina expresses her anxiety over the uncertainty of the world, worried about how much worse life can get. As she rambles, the stage manager, Fitzpatrick, encourages Sabina to make up a longer monologue. Miss Somerset, the actor playing Sabina, breaks character at this