Skin is a one act play about the central mystery in the life of musician Michael Arne. Michael was the legitimate son of Thomas Arne, the famous eighteenth century composer of ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘God Save the Queen’. Despite his successful musical career, Michael Arne became obsessed with alchemy, the search for the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life - so obsessed, in fact, that it led him to the debtors' prison, and the death of his first wife. He recovered from this disastrous setback, going on to conduct the first performance of Handel's Messiah in the composer's native country of Germany. He remarried, and despite his previous experiences, turned once more to the study of alchemy. What was the obsession that forced this successful, intelligent man to repeat his previous mistakes, only to die and leave his second wife in poverty?