Three Plays

“Thornton Wilder will survive. . . as long as there are people around who are willing to sit in something called a theater and be reminded of their common humanity.” —New York Times From celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning author and playwright Thornton Wilder, three of the greatest plays in American literature together in one volume: Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, and The Matchmaker. This essential compendium of 20th-century theatre includes a preface by the author, as well as a foreword by playwright John Guare. Our Town, Wilder's timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning classic about love, death, and destiny, opened on Broadway in 1938 and continues to be celebrated and performed on stages all around the world. The Skin of our Teeth, Wilder's brilliant and enduring romp exploring the human condition through follies and endurance starring the Antrobus family of Excelsior, New Jersey, earned Wilder his third Pulitzer Prize in 1943. The Matchmaker, a dazzling farce comedy about money and love, stars the irrepressible busybody Dolly Gallagher Levi, who leads young and old on an adventure that changes their lives. It was the inspiration for the famed musical Hello, Dolly! What makes these plays enduring classics of the American stage? Timeless American Drama: Journey to the small town of Grover’s Corners in Our Town and witness the profound beauty in the everyday cycles of life, love, and death. Epic Theatrical Innovation: Survive the Ice Age, the Flood, and war with the Antrobus family in The Skin of Our Teeth, an ambitious and wildly imaginative allegory of human resilience. Hilarious Farcical Comedy: Delight in the schemes of the irrepressible matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in The Matchmaker, the celebrated play that formed the basis for the musical Hello, Dolly! A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Collection: Experience two of Wilder’s three Pulitzer Prize-winning works, showcasing the genius that cemented his place in the canon of classic American literature.