Digital getdown: Susan (Melissa Lynch) and Karl (Charlie DelMarcelle) work together to smuggle a human foot. (photo by Katie Reing)

Stage

Skin Deep.

by J. Cooper Robb

Inis Nua Theatre Company opens its season with the American premiere of Irish playwright Paul Meade’s absorbing drama Skin Deep.

Inspired by avant garde artist Damien Hirst and a London exhibit in which a sculpture was created from stolen body parts, Skin takes place in contemporary Dublin.

Karl (the excellent Charlie DelMarcelle), a struggling artist obsessed with death, has plans for a unique exhibit. He bribes financially strapped medical student Susan (Melissa Lynch) to steal a human foot (Karl wanted a hand but when procuring body parts one takes what one can get). After a bit of gruesome silliness involving the aforementioned foot and Karl’s landlord/friend Dan and his girlfriend Ruth (a determined journalist), Karl uses the foot as the centerpiece for his new exhibition. Art critics are wowed by the bizarre exhibit and Karl becomes an overnight sensation.

Horrified by Karl’s use of body parts, the intrepid Ruth (an intense Corinna Burns) attempts to discover the origins of the aforementioned foot. Before her investigation is complete, however, she’s forced to undergo brain surgery, a procedure that temporarily robs her of her short-term memory. While Ruth is hospitalized, Dan (Jared Michael Delaney) has an affair with Susan.

The episodic and overwrought plot is contrived and the humor grotesque, yet while the story at times resembles a soap opera, Meade also manages to pose a host of fascinating questions about ethics, art, greed, death and the human body.

The ethical issues provoke the most interest. The human form has long inspired art, from Michelangelo’s David to Robert Mapplethorpe’s controversial photos. Stealing body parts is illegal, but what if a photographer uses a person’s image without their knowledge or a journalist prints a story out of spite?

Tom Reing’s direction is impressively confident and he elicits strong performances from his cast, all of whom have rarely been better (the consistency of the Irish accents are especially appreciated). The production’s use of live video effectively emphasizes the play’s mingling of art and life and the still images (projected on a large screen) adeptly communicate the play’s multiple locales.

Meade’s script has its rough patches, but the questions he raises about morality and mortality are hard to dismiss. More important, Reing’s astute production bodes well for the future of the thoughtful young company. Boasting an artistic awareness and professionalism often lacking in small companies, Inis Nua appears poised to make its mark in Philly’s crowded theater scene.

A Show of Support

The grand dame of Philadelphia theater Miss Martha Graham Cracker (aka Dito van Reigersberg in a bewitching drag performance) is showing her philanthropic side this week at separate shows benefitting two of the city’s most exciting companies. On Friday Miss Martha headlines the Pig Iron Theatre Company benefit In-Hog-Ural-Ball. At the cabaret-style show and auction hosted by Pig Iron co-founder and performer Quinn Bauriedel, Martha will be joined onstage by such notables as the Nichole Canuso Dance Company and composer/musician James Sugg. Precisely what these performers will do is anyone’s guess. Pig Iron’s benefits are notoriously unpredictable; the only certainty is the evening will be unusually entertaining.

On Monday, the busy Miss Martha will play hostess at Miss-Cast. Benefitting the Mauckingbird Theatre Company (where van Reigersberg is featured in the company’s new production of Hedda Gabler), the show is billed as a “cross-gender” cabaret featuring women singing men’s songs and men singing tunes intended for women. In an email correspondence, van Reigersberg noted that while it’s difficult to imagine any song being wrong for a “gender warrior” like Miss Martha, he hints that a version of the Indigo Girls lesbian anthem “Galileo” may be on the list. Other performers include the charming Nicholas Park and Mauckingbird artistic director Peter Reynolds.