Louis Emmitt-Stern’s play ‘Slippery’ in London run

Slippery, the Tony Craze Award-winning play by Gibraltarian Louis Emmitt-Stern is currently being staged at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham, London.

Mr Emmitt-Stern began work six years ago on the two-hander comedy-drama which focuses on ex-partners set in real-time.

The 75-minute long play stars Olivier Award-nominee John McCrea and Perry Williams, who portray ex-partners Jude and Kyle who broke up a decade prior.

Kyle receives a phone call that Jude is in A&E after still being listed as an emergency contact.

The play is set in the aftermath of the hospital visit at 3am in a Canary Wharf flat where two men who have not seen each other in years look back at their break-up and their lives, and also decide to make a spaghetti carbonara.

Mr Emmitt-Stern said he is drawn to writing characters who have a history and can piece together the past.

He added that the casting process was exciting as Perry was the last actor to audition opposite John, and the pair had good chemistry and were believable as a couple.

Mr Emmitt-Stern is working alongside director Matthew Iliffe, designer Hannah Schmidt, lighting designer Ryan Joseph Stafford, sound designer Anna Shirt, intimacy director Jess Tucker Boyd, casting director Nadine Rennie and dramaturg Gilliam Greer, and the play is produced by Lucy Jessica for Salt Lick Productions.

Mr Emmitt-Stern has received acclaim for this debut play when he won Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award in 2021.

The production opened on March 17 and Mr Emmitt-Stern said it had been an “amazing first week” with Gibraltarians attending shows daily.

He said he felt supported by the local community, with the Minister for Culture Christian Santos attending one of the performances in London. He added that actress Amy Lou Wood and singer-song writer and actress Diana Vickers also watched a performance.

Over the years, Mr Emmitt-Stern has been working on various projects including an adaptation of Mansfield Park which was first-performed in a production at Jane Austen’s House. He also had a limited run of his play Snakes and Ladders in London in August 2024.

His second play, I F**ked You in My Spaceship, received a critically acclaimed sold-out premiere at VAULT Festival 2023, winning the Origins Award for Outstanding New Work and was subsequently transferred to the Soho Theatre.

Slippery is currently on a month-long run of 26 shows, ending on April 11.