Skin Tight

The performance of Skin Tight last weekend was so immediate and raw I couldn’t stop crying for ten minutes after the play ended. I didn’t feel intellectually despondent or enlightened; it was a visceral, physiological experience similar to meeting with the Holy Spirit in church when I was younger, an experience also rooted in romantic text, music and movement.
Here’s my «impressionist» piece about the play based on the Aug. 21 performance:
He pared an apple with a knife
ate a slice and then another
and let it roll away
a triangle cut from its round body,
she pranced, ran, jumped on long legs,
they sat on overturned milking pails,
reminiscing about the land they had plowed,
«Looks like rain,»
he said, gazing out the window,
they wrestled on the floor
he grabbed her flesh
she hooked her legs around his body
they lay intertwined,
a trumpet player
dressed in white, with a long face
blew on the mouthpiece
softly, sharply, melodically
she cursed him,
he jabbed his finger at her,
their faces contorted,
the trumpet player stared longingly at her face, and then his,
the mouthpiece suspended in midair,
we watched him watching them,
Adam and Eve,
he crumpled to the floor and covered his face
when she raved about the day they sent the boys off, waving Old Glory,
she threw back her face and convulsed wildly when he told her,
«It’s difficult for her,»
about her estranged daughter,
she untied the knot around her waist, slipped off her cotton dress and panties and climbed into the bathtub
her head fell back
he washed her still body,
in the empty space
the scenes transitioned into each other seamlessly,
the audience sat sobbing
when the actors took their bow

Simply delightful performance! I was blown away by the thoughtful development of the intense plot. The integration of dance and music made it incredibly unique and brought the audience into the drama on so many levels. Not to be missed!