Review: THICK SKIN, ELASTIC HEART, The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow

Produced by Sonnet Youth, Thick Skin, Elastic Heart is a poetic piece of theatre that examines what issues are affecting millennials today. From being ruled by their smartphone to working multiple jobs and having no hope of owning property without family money, this show tries to cover a lot of ground.

Performed by Charlotte Driessler, Robert Elkin, Cameron Fulton and Danielle Jam, Thick Skin, Elastic Heart is a series of interwoven poems about modern life. The young cast are bursting with enthusiasm but the group delivery did begin to grate quite quickly. While many of the issues raised were important, their significance feels a bit reduced by quips about avocados and doorbell anxiety.

The show runs at about 70 minutes which means that although the piece is meant to reflect the fast-paced nature of modern life, it comes across as quite rushed. The strongest elements of the show were stories like a young woman that becomes fixated on a stray hair on her partners face- a funny and relatable observational story that is well performed and not brought up in everyday conversation. The stories that carried more weight such as ones that covered miscarriage, homophobia and sexual assault were sped through and almost too much to process at once.

While the majority of Drew Taylor-Wilson's script is excellent and wonderfully poetic, the material feels all too familiar. Elements of the show are entertaining but it isn't quite the punchy social commentary that it thinks it is.

Thick Skin, Elastic Heart is on tour around Scotland.

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