Slippery by Louis Emmitt-Stern, Omnibus Theatre, Northside, Clapham Commons, London SW4 until | 11 April 2026 ⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell
Photo credit: Ali Wright
Slippery
by Louis Emmitt-Stern
Omnibus Theatre, Northside, Clapham Commons, London SW4 until | 11 April 2026
⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell
“Well-acted but predictable queer drama.”
Strongly cast, beautifully staged and very well directed by Matthew Iliffe this world premiere of Slippery tells what happens when Jude, who has had a fall and needed stitches in a head would and some other bandaging, gives, for heaven knows what reason, the name of his former partner Kyle as the person to take him back from hospital to his very posh docklands flat. They split up some ten years earlier and have not seen one another since so just why Kyle turned out – he has a new life, a new relationship – is one of those things. It would help, as obviously old lusts resurface, if there was any chemistry between the two actors but there is none. They deliver splendid performances individually but do not transmit the slightest sense of desire. Jude (John McCrea) is getting over the loss of his latest partner and clearly has a lifestyle in which everything is there that he needs but there is nothing superfluous – whereas Kyle, curious about the surroundings, messes about. They manage – there is a working kitchen in the superb set designed by Hannah Schmidt – to cook spaghetti carbonara and both, although Kyle claims to have given up drink, swig glasses of red wine as they loll about on Jude's massive sofa getting round to the inevitable moment when they might resume their past relationship. There is, however, a problem – Kyle has another life as his mobile phone, which rings from time to time but is not answered until later in the encounter, and that natty little moustache he sports, show. The revelation is not a surprise except to Jude who has arguably not moved on from the way he was when the pair were together, a couple of youthful hedonists doing what young gay men often do. Well written as it is Emmitt-Stern really has nothing to say that hasn't been said before about gay relationships and why some work and some do not, and the actors seem to be in different worlds rather than suddenly, inexplicably in the same one albeit maybe not for long. But as individual performances they are worth catching and there is that super set, which transforms the Omnibus stage into a flat to die for, to marvel at not to mention the edible spaghetti.
Cast
Perry Williams – Kyle
John McCrea – Jude
Creatives
Director – Matthew Iliffe
Set & Costume Designer – Hannah Schmidt
Lighting Designer – Ryan Joseph Stafford
Sound Designer – Anna Short
Intimacy Director – Jess Tucker Boyd
Dramaturg – Gillian Greer
