Skintight

by Joshua Harmon

Reeling from her ex-husband's engagement to a much younger woman, Jodi Isaac turns to her famous fashion-designer dad for support. Instead, she finds him wrapped up in his West Village townhouse with Trey. Who's twenty. And not necessarily gay. But probably an adult film star. At least, according to Jodi's son. Who's also twenty. And definitely gay.




Skintight assays the nature of love, the power of attraction, and the ways in which a superficial culture persists in teaching its children that all that matters is what's on the inside.

Genres: Plays

92 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2021

About the author

Joshua Harmon's play Bad Jews received its world premiere at Roundabout Underground and was the first production to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play). It has since become the third most-produced play in the United States this season and transferred to London’s West End after sell-out runs at Theatre Royal Bath and the St. James Theatre. His newest play Significant Other opened at Roundabout this summer. His work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor's Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation. Joshua is a recent graduate of Juilliard and at work on commissions for Roundabout Theatre Company and Lincoln Center Theater.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5, rounded down.

I've enjoyed the three other Harmon plays I've read, but this one I found problematic on several levels - although there are a few chuckles, most of the characters are so nasty and mean-spirited, it is hard to root for (or laugh at/with) ANY of them. The jokes are of the formulaic, sit-com variety, and there is little character consistency. It is particularly hard to buy frustrated mom Jodi is actually a high-powered LA attorney, since almost everything out of her mouth is so cringe-worthy and juvenile (I applaud Idina Menzel for apparently making the character semi-likeable). Worse, the play ends with two dueling monologues in which Jodi and her dad each pontificate on their disparate notions of what constitutes love and beauty - and not a word of it rings true as anything that would ever come out of a real person.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/th...
https://variety.com/2018/legit/review...
https://www.stageleft.nyc/blog/2018/6...

[Jake Van Hoorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some funny moments to be sure but even after 89 pages I don’t feel like I really understood or empathized with any of these characters more than I did at the beginning. I’ve loved Joshua Harmon’s other plays so this one felt like a bit of a let down. Still giving it three stars though because the back and forth arguments are so hilariously written, there’s some terrific dialogue in here!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this play. I like the playwright. Would have been fun to see when it was in NY but I missed it.