Review: SLIPPERY, Omnibus Theatre

Photo credit: Ali Wright

In the current cash-strapped cultural climate, two-hander plays digging into relationship mores are a staple of fringe theatre, and ten-a-penny in Off West End theatre. Louis Emmitt-Stern’s award winning Slippery, however, stands out in this crowded genre. Now receiving its premiere at Clapham’s Omnibus Theatre, this new play is stylish, sexy and perfectly formed.

Slippery sees former lovers Kyle (Perry Williams) and Jude (John McCrea) reunited in the latter’s flat after a late night trip to A&E. Over the course of a razor-sharp 80 minutes, the pair discuss their relationship, grief, aging, and the fraught toxicity of gay party culture.

In the re-hashing of their relationship, Emmitt-Stern’s script doesn’t labour to over-explain the context or the reasons for the break-up. Slippery is not over-burdened with exposition, a trap that so many plays of this genre can fall into.

Whilst keeping the audience intrigued, the script also doesn’t feel like it’s withholding from the audience, often a cheap shortcut to suspense. The dialogue is sharply observed, with the familiar humour and rhythm of a pair who were once in love.

Under the deft and sensitive handling of director Matthew Iliffe, the script is brought to life by John McCrea and Perry Williams. This pair share incredible chemistry, and even in the exchange of tight, passive aggressive barbs, there is a palpable warmth and familiarity between them. Each actor gets the opportunity at some point in the piece to be alone on stage, and give a masterclass in expression outside dialogue. John McCrea is a sparky and sassy Jude, wincing through physical injuries, but keeping a tight lid on a boiling mess of grief and loneliness that threatens to spill over. Perry Williams slinks around the stage, teasing and goading, a confident character again masking a latent hollowness. Layered over these nuanced characters is a quick humour and zingy repartee that does testament to writer, performers, and director altogether.

Hannah Schmidt’s set and costume design puts one in mind of the frighteningly lonely sterility of the apartment complex in Andrew Haigh’s All Of Us Strangers. Jude’s half-lived in flat, with a bin stuffed full of TM Lewin shirts is sometimes absurdly hilarious, sometimes painfully poignant. Ryan Joseph Stafford’s lighting design is subtly effective in underscoring the tête à tête of the former lovers, and taking the foreground in the final moments of the play with a bold blushing sunrise that visually and thematically ties the story together. Topped with the smell of lardons and onions cooking live on stage, this show is a feast for the senses.

Slippery is a difficult but unmissable watch for anyone who has loved and lost, anyone who has felt grief, or struggled to know and articulate what they want. Beautifully real, funny and occasionally heartbreaking. Truly special.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett

Slippery plays at London’s Omnibus Theatre until 11 April, with further info here.