Thick-Skinned is a play by first-time writer Laura Ross about Scleroderma, a rare and sometimes debilitating disease. Susie is a painter who always thought she just had cold hands until she gets diagnosed with a condition her doctor doesn't seem to know more about than she does. But pride gets in the way of her being able to fully share the full details of her condition with her roommate Ember or her new boyfriend Blake, even though all they want to do is help.

There are times when the script, obviously meant to inform the audience about Scleroderma, veers into After School Special territory, but mostly it's pretty cute. The cast is also quite talented, the two leads in particular (who both also happen to have great abs). The show also uses a small amount of dance to represent medical procedures and examinations, which sounds hokey on the page, but is actually quite beautiful to watch.

Thick-Skinned plays this afternoon at 1:45 p.m. at St. Vlad's.

Other weird stuff going on today:

Die Roten Punkte - SUPER MUSIKANT (SUPER MUSICIAN) returns to the Toronto Fringe and seems like an excellent way to make fun of punk music and Europeans at the same time. It plays at 8:15 p.m. tonight at the Tarragon Mainspace. Bondage is that scary-looking show you've been seeing posters for with the SM-ish clowns called Pox and Vendetta. Catch their shtick at 10:30 p.m. tonight at the George Ignatieff Theatre.

Photo by Brian Smith.