The Skin of Our Teeth

The second act takes place in Atlantic City, and the announcer returns to narrate the slides and set the scene, which is a convention of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans, which is celebrating its 600,000th yearly convention. George has been elected president of the order; the other orders, including the orders of Wings, Fins, and Shells, are holding concurrent conventions and have sent two of each kind of animal as delegates to the human convention. Lights reveal George and Maggie, and George accepts the presidency. Now that the ice is gone, he reminds everyone that it’s better to focus on celebrating than on the losses. Yesterday, they had a memorial service for “our friends and relatives who are no longer with us, by reason of cold, earthquakes, plagues, and […] differences of opinion” (51). Maggie starts to prompt George as he forgets what he is supposed to say. He says that the old motto was “Work,” but the new motto for the future is “Enjoy Yourselves” (52). Before sitting down, he dispels rumors that he previously considered being a different kind of animal of another order, as he has been “viviparous, hairy and diaphragmatic” (52) for the last million years. The conveeners cheer.

The announcer asks Maggie to speak, and she humbly says that she shouldn’t because George is the one who was elected, but as the president of the Women’s Auxiliary Bed and Board Society, she proclaims that the tomato has been determined to be edible, that the silkworm produces fabric, and that there is still no decision on whether children should sleep with the windows open or closed. The announcer requests that Maggie talk about their upcoming wedding anniversary, and she tells the crowd that she and George will soon celebrate their 5,000th year of marriage, and that she “regret[s] every moment of it” (54). She corrects herself to say that she doesn’t regret it and reminds everyone of a time when women fought for marriage, noting that some people seem to be backsliding. She proclaims that her motto for the year is “Save the Family” (54). The announcer says that they are out of time and can’t show the beauty contest that George judged earlier in the day: The title of Miss Atlantic City 1942 was awarded to Sabina, who works as a hostess at a bingo parlor on the boardwalk. The scene shifts to the boardwalk, where there is a signpost for bad weather warnings. There is also a saltwater taffy store, a fortune teller, an empty shop, and a Turkish bath. Three somber men push roller-chairs, seeking customers.

There are the sounds of a bingo game from offstage, and the fortune teller, Esmeralda, perfunctorily tells inattentive passersby of the bad fortune and deaths in their future. Sabina catches her attention and asks if George has walked by yet. Esmeralda says that he hasn’t, and Sabina exclaims wistfully that now that she has won the beauty contest, she plans to make George her husband and take him from his wife. Then, she’ll take every man from every wife. Sabina asks the fortune teller about Helen of Troy, and Esmeralda hisses at her to be quiet and go away until George shows up. A group of men flock around Sabina, and she laughingly turns them away. The fortune teller addresses the audience, explaining that telling the future is easy because it’s obvious in people’s faces, but telling the past is impossible. No one listens to her. She predicts that someone in the crowd, whom she won’t name, will die from regret in the next year. For the Antrobus family, Esmeralda predicts “Great Man dizziness” (59), by which George will become disoriented by his own sense of greatness. In addition, there will be a massive storm, and only a few will survive, including a few animals, which will be saved in pairs. The conveeners shout at her, mocking her and calling her a fraud, and she shouts back.

Esmeralda shushes the audience because the Antrobus family is coming: “Your hope. Your despair. Your selves” (60). Maggie and George enter with Gladys, and Maggie criticizes Gladys for not holding her stomach in. Maggie wonders where Henry went, and there is suddenly a commotion because Henry is threatening one of the roller-chair pushers with his slingshot. The chair pusher stands his ground, threatening to hurt Henry if he touches his chair. George tries to take the slingshot, and Henry pouts. George proclaims that after this trip, he is giving up on Henry, and Maggie urges them both to calm down. A conveener walks by and bows to George, who nods back. Maggie learns that the conveener was George’s opponent in the election and starts to shout after him for lying to win. Gladys and Henry are embarrassed, and all three beg her to stop. Gladys wants to ride in a roller-chair, but Maggie thinks it’s a waste of money. George decides that they can do something fun because they’re on vacation, and Maggie insists that she will just take her dollar and watch, predicting “a rainy day is coming” (64), and they shouldn’t be wasteful. A conveener at the Turkish bath looks out and mocks George for bringing his family to the convention, and Maggie yells back.

Maggie points out that it’s about to rain, and George’s broadcast is happening soon. George warns Maggie that he is reaching the limit of what he can stand. This upsets Maggie, who insists that George has the “best family in the world” (65). Sabina enters, dressed in a swimsuit and red stockings, and George greets her as she walks by. Maggie asks whom he greeted, and George evades the question. Gladys marvels at how beautiful Sabina is, and Henry asks to meet her. Maggie persists, and George admits that she is the girl who won the beauty contest. Maggie is sure that it’s Sabina, but George disagrees. He claims that she is a college graduate who is stuck hosting a bingo parlor because she must care for her aging mother, adding that Sabina is far more intelligent and cultured than Maggie. Changing the subject, Maggie comments that she still hasn’t seen a whale. Henry notices that the bad weather post now has a black disc attached, and George explains that one disc warns about bad weather, two is for a storm, three is for a hurricane, and four is for the end of the world. A second black disc appears, and Maggie decides that she needs to buy raincoats.

Henry notes that he has seen two whales—the delegates for their order that have come to the convention. Maggie hopes that the storm will wait until after George’s broadcast, and Henry hopes that the storm will destroy everything. Maggie takes her leave via a boat at the dock and promises to return in 10 minutes, sending the children to explore and suggesting that George take a nap. Conveeners poke their heads out of the stores to mock George again for having his wife there, and Maggie yells back again, muttering, “What’s the matter with family, I’d like to know. What else have they got to offer?” (70). George is alone, and the fortune teller watches as Sabina approaches him. Sabina is anxious, but the fortune teller points out that he has never been with anyone but his wife, and therefore his wife reminds him of every mistake he has ever made. Sabina asks Esmeralda to tell her fortune, but Esmeralda laughs. Approaching George, Sabina tells him demurely that she isn’t the type of girl who normally would compete in a beauty contest. He reassures her, and Sabina compliments his wife, claiming to emulate her. Sabina invites him to her beach cabana.

Sabina says that he can rest because she can tell by his handsome face that he works too hard and doesn’t rest. This wins him over. Sabina breaks character and interrupts the scene, announcing that she refuses to go through with it. She informs the audience that Sabina convinces George to leave Maggie, get a divorce in Reno, and marry Sabina. George hisses her name—Miss Somerset—and calls for the stage manager. Mr. Fitzpatrick enters and tells her that she must continue. She refuses; she has a friend in the audience whose husband of 20 years left her after becoming wealthy, and she is certain that some of the lines, which she repeats in this tirade, will hurt her feelings. He tries to fire her, threatening to report her to Equity and send in the understudy, but Sabina/Miss Somerset says that she sent her understudy out for coffee and promises to fight Equity “right up to the Supreme Court” (74). Exasperated, Mr. Fitzpatrick tells her to go, and he’ll read the lines, but George says to just skip the scene. Pleased, Sabina thanks him and reiterates what happens in the scene. They pick up at the end, in which George is worried about how to tell his wife. Sabina insists, “Listen, George: other people haven’t got feelings. Not in the same way we have,—we who are presidents like you and prize-winners like me” (75).

Sabina asserts that life only exists for pleasure and power, and she kisses him. George is smitten, and they hide in the cabana. A third black disc appears on the warning post. Maggie enters with packages and sits on a bench. Gladys returns, and Maggie is distressed to see that she is wearing red stockings. She orders Gladys to return to the hotel to change, lest she disappoint her father, but Gladys resists. Frustrated, Maggie exclaims that she doesn’t care what either of her children do anymore or if a storm washes them away, and she doesn’t know where George has gone. Gladys replies that he’s speaking to the woman in the red dress. Maggie hides Gladys’s stockings under a raincoat. A broadcaster enters frantically, relieved to find Maggie, as it’s time for George’s broadcast. He asks Maggie to broadcast in his place if he doesn’t return in time, and she refuses. The broadcasters spot George and ask him to test the audio equipment by saying the alphabet. George dismisses them because he needs to speak to Maggie, ignoring them as they continue to beg. Sabina offers encouragement as George tells Maggie that he plans to divorce her and marry Sabina, promising to continue to support her and the children financially. Calmly, Maggie says that she married George because he made a promise to her, even though they were both young and imperfect. Dramatically, she reveals Gladys’s stockings and exclaims that this is what happens when those promises are broken. Horrified, George accuses Sabina of giving them to her, which she denies.

George orders her to go and change, and Gladys says that they need to know something about Henry first. Dismissing her, Maggie announces that before she takes Gladys to the hotel, she needs to throw a bottle in the ocean. She throws something, explaining that it contains a message with “all the things that a woman knows” (82). If the bottle ends up where it is meant to go, “a new time will come” (82). She says that women aren’t the stereotypes in the media; they’re the reason for the universe, and a man who hurts one will suffer. Gladys escapes and tells them that Henry hit and injured one of the roller-chair pushers with a rock, and he’s hiding because the police are after him. She exclaims that she doesn’t care if George leaves them because she’ll hate him forever; she runs away. George wants to follow, but Sabina insists that he stay and do his broadcast. George, confused, asks who he is supposed to be addressing, and why there are so many birds gathered. Surprised, a broadcaster reminds him that the birds are delegates, and George is speaking to all the orders. George is amazed by the fish and the whales, calling to Maggie that her whales have appeared. Patiently, Sabina and the broadcaster explain that those are the vertebrates who are there to hear him, and that the lion might speak when he is finished. He urges George to start speaking.

The storm is strengthening, and George starts to give a modified version of the Gettysburg Address, but the sound of thunder drowns him out. The fortune teller exclaims that there are four discs, and he needs to hurry and gather his family on the boat. Sabina reassures him that it’s only a storm, losing confidence as it grows stronger. George shouts for Maggie, who returns with Gladys. However, Henry isn’t there, so Maggie yells his name. Esmeralda tells George to start loading animals onto the boat so he can repopulate the earth after the storm. He does so, with Gladys’s help. Sabina, now worried, begs George and Maggie to take her on the boat, promising to do anything to make herself useful. Conveeners show up to laugh at them for taking the storm seriously. Maggie refuses to leave without Henry. The dock starts to break as she shouts for him, finally shouting, “Cain!” (88). He appears, explaining, “I didn’t think you wanted me” (88). Sabina begs again, and Maggie agrees that she can come and work. She is, as Esmeralda notes, returning to the kitchen, and Sabina doesn’t understand why the world always falls apart when she’s about to get what she wants. The family and Sabina are on the boat, and a group of conveeners enter, now panicked. The fortune teller mocks them that nothing will protect them from the storm, remarking that the family is safe, and calling to George that he will be responsible for creating a new world.