Thick Skin - not required for this review!

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There are performances tonight, tomorrow and Saturday so pop along to Balham and see for yourself.

Enjoy!




Feb 9, 2017

THICK SKIN by Caitlin McEwan
Director: Ellie Gauge Producer: Jospehine Langdon
Presented by Poor Michelle Theatre Company
Theatre N16, Balham
8th-11th February 2017 

‘A play that challenges the epidemic of irreverence, in a quietly funny and understated way.’

From the same company that produced ‘Harry’, Poor Michelle’s latest offering casts it’s net back into the millennial pool of frustration and fear to bring us ‘Thick Skin’.

With a minimal set, four stools and two mic stands, the audience enter to a Beyoncé track, a nice touch considering the company take their name from the 3rd, least well known Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams. The play begins with a stand-up routine about the race of Jess’ previous boyfriend; he was “Asian” she says, covering the mic up as she says the word. From there the audience is taken through a montage of conversations, anecdotes, arguments and songs.

Each character is tackling their own personal problem; Jess is a struggling stand-up comedian who seems to joke almost exclusively at the cost of others, Peter’s making a documentary about his new mixed-race girlfriend Naomi but blurs the lines between facilitating and dominating, and Ollie is feeling old at 25 and hates his job in ‘client service’ (he doesn’t really know what it is either).

One scene stood out, between Ollie and Jess, who strike up a conversation on the night bus home after Jess hears Ollie listening to ‘Thick Skin’ by Sia. After deciding the reason they like her is because she’s an enigma, and basically ‘just a big fringe’. Their conversation evolves into an endearing and comic exchange about their lives. Safe in the knowledge that they’ll probably never see each other again they share some of their secrets and fears.

Public transport plays an important part in the play; the average commuting time to get to work in London is 55 minutes. That’s minimum 5 hours a week, not including all the other times pubic transport is used to get around. God forbid, someone tries to strike up conversation, right? Thick Skin challenges that pre-conception in this small sweet scene. Later in the play Ollie goes on to describe how he stopped taking public transport when people started to stare at him, and flinch when he put his bag down. An important and painful observation about assumption in our society today.

The play as a whole was a bit like a puzzle, being filled in piece by piece, and at the end you can stand back and admire the whole thing. The actors could do with throwing themselves into it a bit more, but I’m sure these are only nerves and minor teething problems, it’s certainly worth a watch. Ultimately, Thick Skin is a play that challenges the epidemic of irreverence, in a quietly funny and understated way.

Get your tickets here – http://bit.ly/2k6zJTD