Noel Coward Theatre
Jeremy O. Harris’ Broadway success arrives with a much-publicised warning: “Is London Ready for Slave Play?” Despite the use of sex as a way of exploring race and the legacy of slavery, it would seem from the reviews that the answer is ‘yes’. Although there are many references to the shocking content (including a naked Kit Harington), the critics themselves seem unshocked. While acknowledging flaws in the underwritten characters or overwritten satire, they generally praised this confrontational drama. The cast impressed them too, particularly Olivia Washington and Mr Harington. But the applause was not universal, as the two 2-star reviews show.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times (4) said it was a ‘rollercoaster of emotions that this blistering, painful and provocative drama involves’ She described ‘A tough, troubling, revealing play: proof again that the stage has become an excellent place to grapple, collectively, with our fraught and freighted times and to help us listen better to our own responses.’ Alice Saville in The Independent (4) found the play ‘multi-layered and deft’, saying, ‘Harris’s play is full of a sharp satirical intelligence’.
Nick Curtis in the Standard (4★) called it ‘challenging in the best way. It uses sex and therapy as metaphors for society’s wider inability to talk honestly about race and touches on the desensitisation of modern life.’ He said, ‘Harris’s ear for dialogue, and his ability to stoke tension and wrong-foot the audience are terrific. He’s not so hot on character.’ Sam Marlowe in The Stage (4★) found, ‘it is grotesquely funny and extremely disturbing, stunningly visceral yet punishingly verbose, brilliantly clever but at times dramatically frustrating.’ It ‘flings us between shock, hilarity and horror,’ she said. However, ‘the play feels overlong, and’ (agreeing with Nick Curtis above) ‘the sense of the characters as fully developed individuals is fitful’.
The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar (4) decided ‘the play is too clever for its own good, throwing the subject matter in the air without quite landing it, and is an intense experience, in spite of its romping humour and trotting pace.’ She concluded positively, ‘It might be flawed but it is charismatic, needling theatre. An event.’ Neil Norman in the Express (4★) was also ambivalent: ‘It’s funny, clever and undoubtedly challenging, though neither as outrageous nor profound as it would like to be.’
Dominic Cavendish in the Telegraph (3) was another with mixed feelings: ‘The mood tips between the satirical and the earnest; the dialogue oscillates between groping babble and blinding revelation.’ Ke Meng at Theatre Weekly (3★) was disappointed: ‘Unfortunately, rather than being genuinely provocative, Robert O’Hara’s direction steers the show in a more comedic and funny manner—even in the erotic scenes.’ She also found the acting ‘a bit hammed’. Susannah Clapp in The Observer (3★) thought it was a bit obvious: ‘The discussions are so laden, so evident, that they drag down the drama.’
Dominic Maxwell in The Times (2★) said, ‘it boasts some acute moments and fine performances…(yet it) comes across as the sort of ideas-led piece that would stimulate over an hour but has instead unwisely swollen to two hours.’ Tomiwa Owolade reviewing for the Sunday Times (2★) decided ‘it is not provocative or daring’ and thought most people ‘will find the play occasionally amusing, but mostly tedious.’
Alexander Cohen at Broadway World (2★) cautioned, ‘What it considers outrageous, here in London in 2024, doesn’t feel all that shocking’ before going on to describe some of the content in shocking detail. The play was, he said, ‘too obsessed with conceptual naval gazing to the extent that it forgets that its characters are human beings.’ (I assume that’s a typo unless the play really is looking at maritime activities.) He decided, ‘it’s a structureless whirlwind of serious and silly’.
Critics’ Average Rating 3.4★
Value rating 38 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
Slave Play can be seen at the Noel Coward Theatre until 21 September 2024. Click here to buy tickets directly from the theatre
Read Paul Seven Lewis’s review of Slave Play here.
If you’ve seen Slave Play at the Noel Coward, please add your review and rating below