★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Eliott

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

After a critically acclaimed sold-out run at this year's VAULT Festival, Louis Emmitt-Stern's rather provocatively titled play, 'I F*cked You In My Spaceship', has now found its way to The Soho Theatre. On the surface, the title suggests a rather sexy, intimate production for the audience’s eyes to feast on, but in truth, there's an emotional layer at the heart of the story that draws you in for a more sombre ride.

Featuring a cast of five, Emmitt-Stern's words bounce off the space with the approval of guttural laughter from audiences; a standout performance from Jacob Bukasa as Robert, Director Joseph Winer expertly crafts Bukasa into a highly strung individual, where his delivery of sharpness to words that fight the audiences laughter is timed to perfection. Felix Kal's performance is another of confidence that really elevates throughout, and whilst it's a small touch, I personally enjoyed seeing the change in earrings from each individual scene; it's a very small touch, but going from spaceships to small rubber ducks, to large dangly swirls, it's a nice touch, and again Kal's delivery cements as a lasting memory of the production.

If there are a few points which could be made, that would no doubt already be in the creatives minds, and put into action with a longer run or more situated venue, it's the use of the set to really emphasise the two couple's surroundings; there's dialogue in which our characters are holding certain objects, or commenting on the walls surrounding them, that sadly feel lost in this Soho Theatre run, along with Abi Turner's lighting, which doesn't give the intended impact. Whilst the writing so flowly threads between the two couples, Leo (Jonas Moore) / Dan (Max Hyner), and Anna (Fanta Barrie) / Emily (Lucy Spreckley), sometimes the short bursts of scenes between the pairings cheat us away from understanding the depth of these couples. However, the clever mirroring of intimacy that Joseph Winer injects into the main four characters, along with the mirrored circumstances in the writing, should be celebrated.

'I F*cked You In My Spaceship' is ultimately a production that at the heart gives us a tender insight into couples where we as an audience can absolutely relate in certain ways; whether it's the difficulty of conceiving, or wanting to try something new to keep the relationship alive, Louis Emmitt-Stern's well crafted worked will continue to make us think long after the lights are out from this Soho Theatre run.