The Official Website of Jeffrey Combs

For this first month of the new year, I thought we’d take a look one of Jeff’s earlier works, when he was still “new” to the film world. The Skin of Our Teeth is not a film, per se, but it’s still a wonderful glimpse into Jeff’s early on-camera presence.

The story is an adaptation of the classic Thornton Wilder play set in present day Excelsior, NJ. The various characters represent different Biblical and classical archetypes. The patriarch of the house, George Antrobus (Harold Gould) is God, his wife Maggie (Maureen Stapleton) is Eve or Mother Nature, and the rest of the family represents other negative and positive archetypes. The family’s maid, Sabina (Blair Brown), a sort of “conscience,” who narrates the story at various points.

Jeff plays Henry Antrobus, the young son of God sometimes referred to as “Cain”, who, although trying to be good, always seems to get himself into trouble. It is inferred that like the Biblical Cain, he has slain his brother Abel some time during his short life, leaving just himself and his sister Gladys to be doted on by their mother. Jeff plays this innocence tinged with underlying malingering evil extremely well.

Act One begins with Henry as a very innocent young boy, almost unsure of what destruction he’s caused already. His mother shields him from his father’s wrath while the threat of a massive wall of ice (representing the beginning of the Ice Age) keeps the family on edge. His father favors the other child, Gladys, who has always been good and excels in her studies. This only alienates Henry all the more, setting up his character for future negative repercussions.

Act Two plays out at a seaside resort. Henry is still a wild, young boy, showing more evident signs of disobedience. Jeff shows off his amazing physical ability by fearlessly tearing across the stage and causing boyish havoc. Jeff’s wonderful comic timing shines through in this role as he delivers some of the best lines that get the biggest laughs. In this act, there is a threat of the possibility of a great flood that will wipe out the human race. This underlying theme of the end of the world, which leads to rebuilding and starting anew weaves through the acts, creating a tension of who will survive or ultimately be destroyed, and by what or whom.

Although Henry tries to behave, by Act Three, he spirals into a highly negative and destructive mindset. Several years have passed and he has just come back from a devastating war to face his family. The mythology sets up that Henry, being the “Cain” side of good and evil, has killed thousands of people during this war with no sense of remorse.

There is a tense confrontation scene between Henry and his father that always leaves me breathless. Jeff gives a great intensity and depth to his performance. Even at a young age, he had such an incredible presence onstage that would only develop further as he matured.

The thing that always amazes me, that especially shows in this live performance, is that every moment he is onstage, Jeff is present in the scene. Even when he’s in the background and not in the “spotlight,” Jeff never just “sits back” and lets things “drift” like some actors might tend to do. He is always adding to the scene in some small way, be it a gesture or a look that adds complexity and meaning to the story. It is absolutely mesmerizing to watch him.

The play weaves aspects of the actors’ (fictional) lives into the story structure, which gives it a lovely depth that engages us as an audience all the more. There is an absolutely amazing scene during this act where Jeff “breaks the fourth wall” and addresses the camera/audience. He relates that the scene he is performing reminds him of his “real life” struggles with his (fictional) father. Jeff essentially “stops the play” and comes out of character to relate these lines. The “soliloquy” Jeff gives is so incredibly rich with emotion and depth, that you forget you’re watching a play and feel as if you are a voyeur peeking in on someone’s real life.

Although the play is a little confusing at times, it’s still incredibly worth it to see Jeff in a live stage piece. I truly wish there were more of these performances available on video or DVD, but it seems just this piece and the very hard to find, but amazing, Alien Voices - Halloween Trilogy are the only two theatrical delights of Jeff’s available to watch at home. Jeff’s career began on the stage, but it is unfortunately rather rare that he performs any stage work these days. From all I’ve read, Jeff was extremely highly regarded as a stage actor and I shall always have the little wish that he would return to the stage again, if only for a limited run.

TRIVIA

• This was the first play to be broadcast live over television on PBS to begin their season of “American Playhouse” on January 18, 1983.

- Also in 1983, Jeff won an LA Drama Critics Circle award for his Performance in a Leading Role as Christy Mahon in the play, Playboy of the Western World.

• Skin of Our Teeth is (sadly) one of the only stage performances of Jeff’s that has ever aired anywhere. The other is the Sci-Fi Channel special that aired in 1998 entitled, “Alien Voices: Halloween Trilogy.” Jeff and various other actors perform a sort of “radio play” of three classic ghostly tales for a live audience.

Jeff is in two of the three stories - Kipling’s “The Mark of the Beast,” in which he plays a possessed drunkard named Fleet and Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost,” where he plays Washington, a young mischievous boy who taunts a harmless ghost. These performances are hands-down some of my absolute favorites of Jeff’s, as you really get to see him show off his amazing ability to play any role and you also get some sense of the true thrill of seeing Jeff perform live.

“Halloween Trilogy” is not available anywhere (that I know of) to buy. I treasure my third generation copy given to me very kindly by a fellow fan. If anyone knows if this performance is indeed available to purchase on VHS or DVD, please email me at darias_diner@yahoo.com. I’d love to own a “good” copy. It would be wonderful if the Sci-Fi Channel would rerun it sometime soon too!

• Jeff has also performed, “What Shakespeare Leaves Behind” (aka “Who Calls Me Villain?”) with his fellow Star Trek actors Casey Biggs and Marc Alaimo several times over the years for fortunate convention goers. “WSLB” is a collection of monologues and other pieces performed live to get new people interested in the Bard’s work. Most recently, Jeff performed “Monologues” with Marc Alaimo for the lucky fans at the Orlando Sci-Fi Convention.

AVAILABILITY

DVD (Originally aired on PBS.)

WHERE TO FIND IT

Netflix, your local video store, and some fans have reported finding it at their local library too!