Slippery at Omnibus Theatre London Review
Written by Harriet for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review. All views are my own
Louis Emmitt-Stern’s Slippery, was left in trusted hands, as director Matthew Iliffe brought the playwright’s tension, chemistry and betrayal to life within its debut at Omnibus Theatre. The Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award-winning play premiered at Clapham Common’s Omnibus Theatre on 19th March. The venue itself is one that has been credited by an abundance of satisfied attendees on Google reviews for its original and unique pieces of theatre, as well as its atmospheric café bar that expands outside to an outdoor seating area.
As for the show itself, whilst reviews from others may deem the constant reoccurrences of abrupt revelations within the script ‘unnecessary’ or purely for shock value, this ‘whiplash’ feels integral in understanding the paradoxes of a previous and rather intoxicating relationship. Especially one, which you may not quite want to stay a thing of the past, despite all its chaos, purely because much of it was built together.
The play opens as protagonist Jude arrives home from his trip to A and E, accompanied by an ex-partner, Kyle who, before being informed of Jude’s fall, had not seen him since he last split from him ten years prior. Despite appearances, there is a shared sense of loss between the characters which lays beyond the surface of Jude’s sleek Canary Wharf penthouse, designed by Hannah Schmidt, and Kyle’s newfound sobriety.
We slowly uncover how Kyle’s attempts at both stability and success haven’t left him feeling quite as content as he’d hoped. A grief-stricken Jude, who decided to tell his HR to inform Kyle of his accident pretty much on a whim, is continuing to grapple with the loss of his partner, Sam. Though the details behind this partner Jude is currently grieving remain hazy, audiences are not left feeling dissatisfied, thanks to Emmitt-Stern’s brilliant enigmatic cadence.
The performance is packed full of tense beats, which were as rhythmic as Jude and Kyle’s nights spent many years back dancing to Sonique’s ‘It Feels So Good’. The undeniable chemistry of performers Perry Williams and John McCrea beautifully anchored Emmitt-Stern’s harrowing depiction of two hedonists. The lighting driving this winding narrative, designed by Ryan Joseph Stafford, enveloped audiences within the tug of war that is the will they or won’t they slowly unravelling between Kyle and Jude throughout the early hours of the morning.
Perry Williams’ performance was captivating, particularly with his use of pause. Whilst Olivier Award-nominee John McCrea’s magnetic performance of Jude, caged by grief, helped reveal how often ex-partners, particularly those with shared trauma and addictions, can be intrinsically connected because of their pasts rather than the people they are at present.
Overall, Slippery was the perfect intimate portrayal of what can happen between two exes’ as they rekindle an old flame.
At Omnibus theatre, London, until 11 April.
★ ★ ★ ★★