ThickSkin have found a recipe for contemporary and physical theatre that works. The narrative is linear but not boring, the subjects are gritty without being too offensive or controversial (the piece deals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder before touching on issues of paedophilia and tales about growing up and living with the angst of teenage life) and there is a good balance of movement to text based theatre.
Neil Bettles history and training as director pours through as the movement sequences, transitions and even object placement is executed with the precision you would expect from an associate of Frantic Assembly. But ThickSkin is his company and it shines in its own right, being very good and very clever with the way that they grapple with edgy subjects. It is a detailed and honest analysis of the human being told through magic and fantasy.
As an audience, this piece works best if you stop hunting for the hidden meanings and take it on face value; the themes that evolve naturally are about as deep as this gets, but there is no real need to look for more in order to make this an enjoyable piece.
This is definitely the show of the younger cast members, Brian Vernel and Samantha Foley, who both excel through the movement sequences and emit incredible energy throughout. This doesn’t leave the two adult cast members - Nick Rhys and Pauline Lockheart - too far behind, but does mean that they need to keep pushing their physical limits.
The stage is kept alive by simple but effective movement of props and set and the idea of projecting onto anything but a white wall is something that is all too often forgotten at Fringe. The company makes good use of projections using them to express emotions and ideas on items ranging from lockers to body parts.
The final explosion of true love’s first kiss is captured, without fault, by the company as a final, fluid movement sequence takes place and we know that this is something magic.
