What's On

Counterfeit Skin

22nd July 2008 to 10th August 2008 - 7.30pm
No monday performance. Thursday 24th July is press and gala night.

Price: £16 and £12 (conc)
Venue: Main House

Company: JC Productions
Writer: Jason Charles
Cast: Jeremy Williams, William Vasey, Gil Sutherland, Charlie Hollway, Kyle Craggs, Garry Jenkins, Rosie Lunney, Jack Badley, Niamh Hackett, Jason Charles, Paul Margrave, Barry Serjent

After it's phenomenally successful three-week run at the Courtyard Theatre Studio, Counterfeit Skin by Jason Charles is back by popular demand! A new and updated version will be performed in the main house with a brand new cast and director.

"It may be some time before I see a show like this on Shaftesbury Avenue, which is a pity."
MyLondonYourLondon

Counterfeit Skin is a darkly comic thriller which questions our understanding of the meaning of love. It is about the conflict between the desires of flesh and the needs of the heart, and what men risk to get what they really want out of life.

Contains nudity and scenes of a sexual nature. "The play is so observant that it's not a matter of identifying with one character, but with aspects of all of them. Jason Charles has created characters that are believable and tragic without allowing them to become caricatures. Overall Counterfeit Skin takes a bunch of unhealthy and destructive relationships and throws them under the microscope before picking them to pieces."
Boyz Magazine

"Counterfeit Skin is a great story about love, pleasure, friendship, infidelity, fear of being alone and the need for emotional safety. All these profoundly human feelings are brilliantly brought to the stage here.

With all these elements combined: a great script, excellent actors, good direction and quality production, Counterfeit Skin has all the ingredients of a good play and achieves it! Don't miss it!"
Remote Goat on Counterfeit Skin ***** (5 stars)

"Sparkling dialogue is the trademark of Jason Charles, whose previous play 'Steam' played to sold-out houses and rave reviews. Mini-farces, such as Mach trying to get his lanky frame in view of the computer camera by lying under the desk at work or gyrating wildly to Madonna recordings add to the sound and visual entertainment.

If the first half of the play seems to be a light-hearted comedy, the second part darkens into a psychological thriller as Jake allows full rein to his fantasies. Things escalate to breaking point until the nerve-wracking denouement."
My Cultural Life on Counterfeit Skin **** (4 stars)

"Jason Charles is a skilled writer ... what starts out as a light comedy soon takes a dark turn - skeletons come clattering out of closets and before you know it Counterfeit Skin has become a tale of infidelity, rampant masochism and potential violence - certainly not a show for the faint hearted.

With plenty of surprises and shocking twists, Charles successfully mixes comedy with drama ... this is a promising show with loads of potential."
Rainbow Network

"Themes of domination and submission within these relationships, the effects of pain and pleasure on the respective protagonists and the shallowness and superficiality of some contemporary gay liaisons is put under the microscope in this entertaining show."
Islington Gazette

"A decent example of that often difficult genre, dark comedy ... Jason Charles has done a fine job of making these characters - stuffed up not so much by their parents as their past - sympathetic ... It may be some time before I see a show like this on Shaftesbury Avenue, which is a pity.
MyLondonYourLondon

Thursday 24th July is press and gala night, tickets will be £26, extra cost going to Terence Higgins Trust