When we first meet her, Myah (Vanessa Sears), the central character in Amanda Wilkin鈥檚 solo play 鈥淪hedding a Skin,鈥 is confined to a box.
Or rather, she鈥檚 stuck in a generic office cubicle in London, England, grinding away at a job she doesn鈥檛 like, surrounded by workers she barely knows and an obnoxious, patronizing boss.
All of that is about to change, however.
In one of the most memorable openings to a play this season, Myah, who鈥檚 Black and probably in her early 30s, is pressured by her manager to pose for a company photograph with the two other racialized people in the office.
The company, it turns out, has received some complaints about its lack of diversity, and so the three are meant to provide photographic evidence of 鈥渋nclusivity in the workplace.鈥 They are statistics, not people. One of them, the office cleaner, is dressed in a suit and not their work uniform.
I won鈥檛 spoil Myah鈥檚 explosive reaction to this ridiculous scenario. But I should point out that the maintenance employee is upset that the photograph was ruined. He had worked there for 17 years, unlike Myah鈥檚 six-week stint, and had never, until then, been acknowledged by the company鈥檚 higher-ups. Dressing up was his idea.
Before the day is over, Myah loses her job, her partner and home. But quicker than you can say 鈥21st-century millennial privilege,鈥 she鈥檚 answered an ad to rent a room on the 15th floor of a tower block. Her new landlady/roommate is an older Jamaican-English woman named Mildred, someone with a heavy Caribbean accent, strict housekeeping rules and a mysterious past.

Vanessa Sears in “Shedding a Skin.”聽
Jeremy Mimnagh/Nightwood TheatreAnd Mildred, it soon becomes clear, will be the one to make the lonely, directionless Myah find herself and shed her old skin for a newer, more permanent one.
鈥淭he space between where I am and where I want to be is deafening,鈥 says Myah about a third of the way into Wilkin鈥檚 90-minute show.
It鈥檚 a memorable quote, but it brings up one of the script鈥檚 biggest problems. Where does Myah want to be? And for that matter, what does she want? Up until then and, indeed, until the show鈥檚 thrilling and moving climax, she remains a passive figure and passivity is hard to make interesting onstage.
Wilkin does, however, add another dimension to her script by interspersing Myah鈥檚 tale with third-person accounts of others struggling to get by in various parts of the world. These brief vignettes, while initially disorienting, soon become a mysterious, and moving, commentary on human connection.
To make a show like this work, and Cherissa Richards鈥 production ultimately does, you need a strong, charismatic actor. (Wilkin herself performed the play when it debuted at London鈥檚 Soho Theatre in 2021.)
Sears, who is equally adept at musical theatre (鈥淜inky Boots,鈥 鈥淢ary Poppins,鈥 鈥淣ew York, New York鈥 recently on Broadway) and straight plays (鈥淚s God Is,鈥 厂迟谤补迟蹿辞谤诲鈥檚 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥), commands our attention throughout.
Besides suggesting a woman who鈥檚 searching for some meaning to her life, she easily transforms into various characters, from the judgmental, tsk-tsking Mildred and the passive aggressive manager to the fearless Gen Z cubicle mate at Myah鈥檚 new job.
Each character not only has a specific way of talking but also a unique way of holding themselves and moving through the world. Sears ensures each character comes through clearly.

Vanessa Sears in “Shedding a Skin.”聽
Jeremy Mimnagh/Nightwood TheatreRichards does a fine job in evoking Myah鈥檚 world.
Jung-Hye Kim鈥檚 set initially seems like a claustrophobic box, but as the show鈥檚 protagonist begins opening up to new experiences, the box similarly opens up to give her more room to breathe. All of this is enhanced by Shawn Henry鈥檚 subtle lighting design. And a half-dozen screens hang from the rafters, on which Laura Warren鈥檚 projections orient us to where we are in the city or, in the case of those vignettes, the rest of the world.
Back in 2020, 鈥淪hedding a Skin鈥 won a prestigious writing award in England, and one of the judges was the acclaimed author and actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Like 鈥淔leabag,鈥 Waller-Bridge鈥檚 breakthrough work, this solo play could also be successfully adapted for a Netflix series. That longer format would let Myah come into her own and dramatize, rather than merely recount, her inspiring, universal coming-of-age tale.
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