A stand-up comic and a gamer walk into a bar, well the room above one if you want to get technical about it. This could be the beginning of one of Liam’s comedy sets, but it’s also the starting point of Hard Reset Theatre’s thick_skin, a thought provoking two hander now playing at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre.
Co-writers, co-directors and co-stars, Ben Borthwick and Connor Rowlett bring us an unflinching glimpse into the lives of two friends, Liam and Billy. Initially, it seems they are mirror images of each other, until they begin to diverge on to different paths. Both work dead-end ‘day jobs’, while by night try to build an audience – one in person as a stand up, the other online as a gaming streamer.
They both face personal issues too; a sexual assault hangs over one head, while an addiction messes with the other. Given the similar issues Liam and Billy face, and their close living arrangements it might seem natural that they would share their problems with each other.
But of course, that’s not really how male friendships work, as this script reminds us. Indeed both Liam and Billy would rather share their inner most thoughts with the strangers who watch them, than with each other. Cleverly, thick_skin teases us with how this friendship could be, giving the audience hope before ripping the rug out from under us and replaying the scene in a different way.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for this” says Billy when his stream goes viral, and that’s probably true for Liam too. As friends they support each other, but we’re left wondering at what point support becomes sabotage, and when every part of their friendship becomes a Mario Kart race, necessitating a ‘winner’.
thick_skin has plenty of comedy moments, but on the whole it’s asking us to really scrutinise what male friendship honestly looks like, and to acknowledge when toxic masculinity comes into play. Having played such considerable roles in bringing this play to fruition, there’s a very clear chemistry between Ben Borthwick as Billy and Connor Rowlett as Liam.
Borthwick gives Billy an everyman type feel, there’s a will from the audience to see this Twitch streamer succeed and the character’s misplaced confidence feels more charming than contrived. Rowlett is absorbing, especially when in stand-up mode, and then later when life starts to unravel for the comedian who can’t seem to catch a break.
Utilising a mixture of styles, thick_skin keeps its audience engaged, particularly when there’s so much story packed into a sixty-minute run time. At times it feels like the script could do with some tightening, so we can really focus on what’s driving these characters, most notably in the final scene where things take an unexpected turn.
However, as a theatre company Hard Reset are tackling big issues in small spaces, and on the whole they’re doing it very well. thick_skin is an important piece of theatre, and one, that with a little refining, could go a long way to sparking a conversation on male friendship.
thick_skin is at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre until 27th April
