‘Slippery’ // Curtain World

‘Slippery’ was sensationally-silly.

Moon Junes, Puke and Silly Goose are in mourning. The polyamorous lovers have awoken in their mansion to find the fourth member of their love square missing. But before they can even assume Fredenharry has run away, they return, in a new horrid ghostly form. Not only is Fredenharry dead but they claim one of the lovers is responsible. But which lover? Slippery is a not so classic murder mystery that creates its own rules and quirks with a delightful dedication to remaining ridiculous. 

Produced by Curtain World and written by it’s founder, Esther Dougherty, Slippery is a love letter to queerness, craftiness and silliness in theatre. As has become the norm for Curtain World productions, there is a heightened clownlike aesthetic that eases audiences into the unapologetically bizarre world of the play. A reflection of our world certainly but it’s a mirror from the funhouse and the image is morphed, muddled and magical. This manifests through the costuming by Deborah Ralston and Seren Wagstaff. The lovers don white gowns and wear their hearts on their sleeves, well actually they wear them sewn onto their chest. Their faces are white with extravagant makeup and a heart shaped outline. They look beautiful and strange which is excellent as they act beautiful and strange too. Looking not quite so beautiful but perhaps even more strange is the ghost of Fredenharry. Wagstaff’s design imagines death to have big horrible feet and long crusty fingers. A fabulous take on the ‘coming back wrong’ trope, it’s no wonder the three living lovers are hesitant to welcome their dead ex back into their arms. 

Bringing these lovers to life is Siobhan Gibbs as Moon Junes, Gina Tay Limpus as Puke and Ben Snaith as Silly Goose. Dancing in death as Fredenharry is Honor Webster-Mannison. Playful in both their physicality and their vocal work alike, this cast is a joy to witness. Matching each other’s freak, there is never a dull moment as each performer remains completely committed and unphased in the face of far fetched plot points. Bitchy bananas, Kiwi popes, magical cicadas and a whirlwind of weirdness becomes entirely believable in the capable hands of these characters and their players. 

Woven amongst the weirdness, Slippery explores the nature of codependent, co-habitual relationships and the fear of existing in the unknown. Why face the struggles of everyday life, why stand in the rain, when you lock yourself inside a mansion and spend your days dry whilst having loads of four way sex instead? Granted, it’s a fairly wild take but the message is apparent. Risk taking is frightening. And yet as the characters investigate the murder and uncover clues, it’s clear there is a craving for more. Secret writing habits, spell casting and distasteful vape flavours reveal each living character yearns for a form of escapism. A visceral experience, Slippery will make you laugh hard and fall in love harder with a polycule of lovers who don’t have any more room to love you back.  

Slippery performs until Sunday 10th November at VentSpace. For more information visit their website.