Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lust! Love! Beauty!: SKINTIGHT continues Joshua Harmon’s impressive winning streak

• By drediman
• July 7, 2018
• No Comments

Eli Gelb, Idina Menzel and Will Brittain in Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “Skintight” by Joshua Harmon at the Laura Pels Theatre.

Last night, I caught Joshua Harmon’s latest play Skintight at the Laura Pels Theatre via Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout has had a strong relationship with Mr. Harmon, having produced three out of four of his major plays – Bad Jews, Significant Other, and now Skintight. The fourth, Admissions (perhaps the finest of the bunch), was produced last season by Lincoln Center Theater. I’m happy to report that Skintight continues the playwright’s impressive winning streak.

As with with his other plays, Mr. Harmon’s latest is an exceedingly well-written and often times wickedly entertaining comedy of manners. Skintight tells the story of Jodi – played by Broadway star Idina Menzel – a recent divorcee in her forties trying to navigate growing older in a world that’s fueled by beauty and sex appeal. When she finds her 70-year-old father in a serious relationship with a 20 year-old (!) “boy”, she must reckon with the the realities of life as an aging heterosexual woman. Even if the play doesn’t quite have the biting sense of humor of Bad Jews or the aching sensitivity of Significant Other (Admissions exuded both), it’s still a superbly-crafted play that’s able to have a thoughtful, well-balanced discourse regarding the fuzzy intersection between lust, love, and beauty while creating complex (often contradictory), convincingly fully-formed characters.

Skintight, also like the other plays, has been afforded a tight, beautifully-designed production (scenic design is by Lauren Halpern) directed by Daniel Aukin. Few American playwrights have been given this opportunity at such a relatively young age, but Mr. Harmon’s accessible yet intellectually fascinating plays deserve the attention on them. The cast is led Ms. Menzel, in a rare appearance in a straight play, who gives a smart performance in a role that plays to her strengths. The rest of the cast – which includes delectable turns by Eli Gelb, Jack Wetherall, and Will Brittain – is top-notch. At this rate, Mr. Harmon has the potential to be a latter-day Neil Simon; an important niche in American theater that has been too long left vacant.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

SKINTIGHT
Off-Broadway, Play
Roundabout Theatre Company at the Laura Pels Theatre
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through August 26