Slippery review: lust and longing long after the party

History is supposed to stay, well, history. But in Louis Emmitt-Stern’s Tony Craze award-winning play, it tumbles face first into the present. Ten years ago, Jude (John McCrea) and Kyle (Perry Williams) were a couple who relished all things hedonistic, partying on a cocktail of drink and drugs until they broke up and Kyle disappeared.

Now they find themselves together again in Jude’s Canary Wharf penthouse in the middle of the night, after he has a nasty fall and Kyle is unexpectedly called to the hospital as his emergency contact. Years have passed and their lives have diverged: Kyle has left the party lifestyle while Jude is in the early days of grief following the death of his partner, Sam.

Both are working hard to keep up appearances, but as they talk, cook spaghetti carbonara and catch up, their lies begin to crack. McCrea and Williams are beat-perfect as these exes, keenly aware of each other’s bad habits yet still desperate to impress; lust and longing hang thick between them.

louis emmitt-stern, tony craze, jude, kyle, john mccrea, perry williams, canary wharf, spaghetti carbonara, grief, lust