NEWS RELEASE

News Bureau . Schofield Hall 201 . Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900

EAU CLAIRE —The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire music and theatre arts department will begin the 2003-04 University Theatre season with Thornton Wilder’s play, “The Skin of our Teeth.” The show will open at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at the Kjer Theatre. Additional performances are slated for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10-11 and 15-18 and 1:30 p.m. Oct.19. A special school performance will take place at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 14.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1943, “The Skin of our Teeth” follows the Antrobus family’s struggle through 5,000 years of life, including the ice age, a flood and a war. As the family moves through time, their optimism can be seen as a moving testament to the human spirit. The Antrobus’ are a wacky and unpredictable family and are always determined to learn from their past and look optimistically to the future.

“The Antrobus family and their maid Sabina represent all of us and our struggle for identity,” commented Richard Nimke, assistant professor of music and theatre arts and the play’s director. He said he chose the play because it has always been one of his favorites.

“It is an optimistic story told with a great deal of compassion and affection for the characters and their struggles, no matter how serious or ridiculous they may be,” said Nimke, noting that Wilder reminds the audience of the importance of history as a record of human successes and failures and the importance of not forgetting where we came from, who we are and where we’re going.

Tickets, available at the University Service Center, (715) 836-3727 or (800) 949-UWEC, are $9 for the general public, $7 for those 62 and older, $6 for children 17 and younger and faculty and staff with a university ID, and $5 for students with a university ID.

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JJ/NW

Judy Berthiaume, Director
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu

Updated: September 29, 2003