Slippery | Curtain World
The last time I reviewed a Curtain World production I described it as being like “an episode of Sesame Street where everybody involved is Queer and is high on MDMA” so I wasn’t sure what to expect from their latest work Slippery but I knew it was going to be a memorable experience.
Slippery sees a four-way polyamorous love square is shattered into a jarring triangle when one of the lovers returns as a ghost and declares that they have been murdered. It follows Moon Junes, Silly Goose and Puke as they work to discover the truth of who killed their late lover Fredenharry.
Image + cover image: Jade Ellis Photography
Slippery is almost too slippery (lol) an experience to be described in something as rigid as words. A campy absurdist horror comedy with a built in murder mystery. The conventions and tropes of each form/genre are used expertly by Esther Dougherty’s script to delve into the psyche of each character and the intricacies of their inner lives as well as the plethora of hard hitting topics it tickles and teases throughout.
Due to its campy, absurdist nature the work is able to discuss a number of things at once and with equal poignancy. A list of which includes (but is not limited to): the climate crisis, the pandemic, co-dependent relationships, the wonders of polyamory, the power of witchcraft, and the evils of cucumber flavoured vapes. A particular highlight was a angsty monologue about the woes of those who dream of a career in the arts and what that can do to our relationships.
They think I’m a murderer! Worse! They think I’m an emerging artist!
Image: Jade Ellis Photography
The entire cast is phenomenal here. They pull no punches and dive head first into the ridiculousness the script demands of them. Each of them delivers a unique and garish but deeply nuanced performance. Gina Tay Limpus is the stand out in her role as Puke - a preference that has only slightly to do with the fact Puke is a witch. She is an instrument of rage and precision, even the slight movements of her eyes feel intentional and venomous. It is difficult to take my eyes off her.
This show has it all. Hateful bananas, dirty filthy sin, the conjuring of dark forces, phone calls to the Pope, poetry, song, dance, four way sexy ghost sex, and rain induced microphone use. Slippery embodies what independent theatre is all about - unapologetic rage, unapologetic joy, and an unapologetic sense of fun.
