Say6 Theatre and the Groundswell Division’s production of Gary Henderson’s Skin Tight is an intense night of theatre. 45 Downstairs is transformed into an intimate traverse stage with the audience extremely close to the action.  This works beautifully as the play is an intimate portrayal of a relationship in all its complexity.

The tension is high from the word go, with a physical fight sequence. In fact the physicality of this show is one of its strengths. The choreography, moving between a fight sequence, dance and a beautiful push-pull movement section enhances the storytelling greatly.

Justin Martin’s direction creates a production that engages the senses and clearly evokes the land of South Canterbury.  We are splashed by water which is placed in buckets on stage, can smell and almost taste the flesh of a crushed nectarine, can feel the water shaken from Elizabeth’s wet hair. This was supported by a strong lighting, set and sound design. The set consists of a ground made of scattered clothes, indicating their day in-day out lives.

There is a sense of danger to this play. The image of Elizabeth shaving Tom with a sharp blade, leaving red raw shaving marks on Tom’s neck reminds you of the intimacy and danger of this relationship – of the razor sharp nature of passionate love. Elizabeth (Holly Shanahan) and Tom’s (Michael Whalley) eyes are locked on each other for the majority of the play, which creates a gripping connection. This is their story, their life with each other.

The actors perform with courage and riveting concentration. Shanahan’s Elizabeth is energised, aggressive, sexual, while Whalley’s Tom is centred, at times haunted.

Henderson has written a beautiful play brimming with poetry, humanity and rich understanding of love and loss. He mixes the mundane everyday (washing your undies in the sink) with the sublime (dancing naked in the rain.)

The production still needs a little settling which will bring out even more layers. It also avoids the male nudity at the end (which is in the text) which would have further heightened the moving ending. At the end I wanted to be left alone in the dark to absorb the explosion which is this play. It’s well worth seeing and kiwis abroad should support this new NZ company.
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