Amy Annette is the sort of woman who’d rather drop her phone than a lovely bit of bread, she tells us by way of introduction. That’s why growing up in the 00s was far from ideal. “I was a size 16 teen in the era of the low-rise jean,” she says.
Annette’s debut is propelled by fear for today’s teenagers, who are living through a revival of 00s fashions. Will the scourge of body-shaming and diet culture follow?
Her insouciant stage presence is a delight to behold – coy sideways looks, dramatic hand gestures – and many of her punchlines land as campy asides. “Is there a mama roach?” she asks when discussing her love for the band Papa Roach.
This theatrical femininity underscores the show’s theme, the dissonance of 00s teen girls complying with beauty standards they knew were unreasonable, and allows her to layer the laughs.
Thick Skin is driven by observations. Most are vivid and fun, teleporting us back to a dancefloor where girls were dressed like “little secretaries” in pencil skirts and ballet flats, or to one unfortunate Christmas where women unwrapped copies of Trinny and Susannah’s What Not to Wear, a book that gleefully categorised some body shapes as “brick”.
There is a danger that nostalgia can feel thin, relying on the satisfaction of unearthed memories above punchlines. Annette’s solution is to lean in with audience participation: we collectively complete 00s lyrics, take a J-17 personality test, and recite the classic Kate Moss quote in horrifying unison: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” The execution is undeniably fun.
Occasionally, the audience interaction threatens to halt the momentum, and there’s a note of frustration as we fall shy of more profound analysis of 00s culture and how it’s affected Annette and her peers – something you feel is within her arsenal to provide a satisfying deep dive on.
Her honed stage persona keeps it going, though, coaxing another level of laughs from the material, and she excels at painting colourful little scenes, like the image of a nun recast as a medieval Carrie Bradshaw, cattily inventing the first collective nouns.
Like Annette, I too grew up with low-rise cargo pants, Blue, Sugababes and questionable advice from girls’ magazines. If your teen years coincided with the 00s, a great night is guaranteed.
• At Soho theatre, London, until 25 January. Then touring
