Frederick Stuart and Ann Noble [Photo by Craig Schwartz]
“The fact is that we have a dinosaur and a mammoth on stage with us in the first act. I’m really interested to see how the audience is going to react,” Stuart said with a chuckle.
On stage through September 29, this reimagining of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play blends timeless themes with cutting-edge staging techniques.
Stuart, a resident artist at A Noise Within, takes on the role of Mr. Antrobus, the everyman protagonist who guides his family through millennia of calamities.
“When you’re pushed to the edge of your own existence, then that does require big emotions,” Stuart said, reflecting on the play’s tall-order emotional demands. He said the production reaches “operatic levels of anxiety, joy” and the “entire gamut of human emotion.”
The actor’s enthusiasm for the project is evident.
“We did a run through yesterday and we did it for the first time in costumes. And I happen to be wearing wool,” Stuart recounts. “I’m finding myself about 20 minutes into the play sweating buckets.”
Stuart draws parallels between his personal life and the character of George Antrobus.
“I have a family and I have a 15-year-old son as well as an 11-year-old girl. And I’ve been married for 17 years now. Antrobus has been married for 5,000 years,” he muses.
Stuart adds, “My son is now six foot. There was a moment where he looked at me and I realized if it did come to fisticuffs, he’d just beat me up. There’s a level of physical respect that I now have for my son that I never used to have.”
The play’s exploration of family as a source of stability resonates deeply with Stuart.
“Having a family is a very strong source of sustenance. And it’s the mast on my boat you can say if you like, or it’s the eye of the storm, it’s the harbor that you need when you are in a choppy sea,” he explains.
Wilder’s text, with its blend of absurdist humor and profound reflection, finds new depths in this production. Stuart spotlights the play’s enduring message of resilience: “Through everything, if you can laugh, that’s a big thing. But if you can find humor in the worst terrible moments, at least you have a chance of survival.”
The production’s contemporary relevance is underscored by its multimedia approach, opening with a simulated news broadcast.
Stuart describes the projection as state of the art; it sets the stage for the societal upheaval to come.
“Remember that this play was written in 1941,” Stuart said, “and it was just as America was joining the Second World War.”
“And we have had the similar thing of just coming through COVID — where obviously the world changed. And also with climate change, there is this kind of sense of dread about the future.”
“Coming up to an election as well, that’s so polarizing. It does feel as if there is a kind of sense of, oh my God, what’s going to happen next?”
As audiences prepare for this 2-hour-and-20-minute journey through human history (that includes the intermission), Stuart hopes they’ll find themselves reflecting on their own resilience.
“Reestablishes my faith in humanity, this play does,” Stuart concludes, “offering a timely reminder of our capacity to endure, laugh, and persevere against seemingly insurmountable odds.”
For tickets and more, visit https://www.anoisewithin.org/play/the-skin-of-our-teeth/
A Noise Within is located at 3352 E. Foothill Blvd. in East Pasadena. Call (626) 356-3100.
