Perry Williams tells us all about Slippery
There’s a dazzling collection of creatives coming to the Omnibus Theatre this month when Louis Emmitt-Stern‘s Slippery takes to the stage. Perry Williams stars alongside John McRae, with the play directed by the fabulous Matthew Iliffe – be still my dramatically beating heart! We were excited to catch up with Perry to find out what his role in all this is going to be.
Hi Perry. Thanks for chatting with us about Slippery. Can you firstly tell us what the play is about?
Kyle and Jude reunite almost a decade after their messy breakup following an accident at work. After returning to Jude’s flat they soon find out there’s a lot that still needs to be said between the two of them and this reunion turns out to be quite life changing for both. It’s a real rollercoaster of a play, exploring themes of addiction, recovery, queer life and grief (to name a few!) I genuinely do think it’s a play with something for everyone, as so much of what’s explored is universal and so doesn’t just speak to one community or demographic. Louis Emmitt-Stern is such a great writer, and tonally the play turns on a sixpence from light to dark, funny to heartfelt and all the way back again, so we’re hopeful the show will be quite an experience for audiences.
You’re playing Kyle, what can you tell us about him?
Kyle’s an illustrator who arrives to collect poor Jude from A&E on his way to a book launch. Since the breakup he has been living a life of sobriety, and it becomes clear early in the play that he’s worked hard to maintain that. I obviously don’t want to give anything away, but over the course of the play we begin to see that he’s carrying A LOT, both in terms of experience and current circumstances. These become the catalyst for much of what happens in the story.
We’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with the amazing charity London Friend who offer support and counselling services to the LGBT community. London Friend is also home to Antidote, a service specialising in substance abuse issues and we were able to talk to one of their support workers during the first week of rehearsals. I think I can speak on behalf of all of us when I say this knowledge was invaluable to our shaping of the world of the play and specifically to me in creating the character. I always think there’s an element of responsibility when you’re dealing with material like this; you always want to approach the issues with sensitivity and truthfulness, so I want to say a massive thank you to them for the amazing work they do and their contribution to the play!
You’ve had great success recently in period pieces like Player Kings and Little Women, so is it quite a change to be acting in this more contemporary work?
I feel grateful to have had the opportunity at an early stage in my career to work on such great classical texts. I think for an actor this type of material asks you to step outside of your comfort zone in terms of the language and structure of the writing, but there’s a real emotional demand (particularly with Shakespeare, Greeks etc.) as the stakes in these plays are often so high. The journeys of the characters really ask you to explore the more extreme end of the emotional spectrum, and this kind of challenge is invaluable for an actor. I learnt so much on both of those productions and weirdly I tend to approach everything now as if I were approaching a classical text. There’s a rhythm built into the dialogue in Slippery that’s not too dissimilar to some of the Beatrice/Benedick exchanges for example, so I think my classical work has served me quite well in this process. It’s been refreshing to step into something that’s more contemporary in its setting and language, but ultimately, I think all the same rules apply when it comes to working on the text.
Slippery has already won Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award, and now it seems the stars have aligned with the cast and creatives. How did you feel when you found out you were cast alongside John McCrea?
Well, when I first read the play before my audition, I had an instant connection with the story and the two characters through which it’s told so I was thrilled to be a part of it. John and I met at a later stage of the casting process and got to work together briefly during one of those sessions which I really enjoyed. He’s just great to work with on a fundamental level; he gives you so much to play off for one thing which is such a gift in and of itself but he’s also incredibly dependable. Two handers can feel quite daunting so you really need a scene partner you know you can rely on throughout the rehearsal process and into performance. I think we settled into a nice rhythm in terms of learning the text and developing the scenes early on which is crucial when you’re working so closely together. This really is a play that lives and breathes on what’s happening between the two actors on stage and it’s been a joy to work with him throughout the process as I think we’re on the same page in terms of our respective approaches to our work.
We’re massive fans of director Matthew Iliffe at ET. What’s it like working with him?
Matthew made a point early on to establish clarity as the focal point of our work, ensuring all the individual beats of the story are clear and the wider shifts between moments are coherent. I’ve found it quite freeing to work in this way because you know what you’re aiming for, and it gets you out of the mindset of ‘Was that right or not?’ and shifts you into something much more helpful for the overall story of the piece. Our work in the rehearsal room has always felt collaborative, which has been lovely as you have the sense that what you bring is being shaped rather than having direction dictated to you. I love working with directors that are genuinely interested to hear your opinion on things as the actor and Matthew’s always been open to going in different directions (if you’re able to justify doing so!) He’s also great at interrogating text in minute detail as well, drawing attention to the implication/subtext of lines even down to a character’s choice of a particular word. I’ve had a good few ‘I never thought of it like that’ moments over the past couple of weeks for sure!
You’re playing at the Omnibus Theatre until the middle of April, but are there plans to take the show anywhere afterwards?
I think there’s always a hope that there’ll be life for a show after its initial run, whether that’s a tour, transfer or extension! I know we’ve all worked hard to bring this show to life, and you always want to share the work with as many people as possible before the run comes to an end. I think this is an important play with the potential to speak to people on quite a profound level so I’ve got my fingers crossed, but obviously you can never predict these things, so I would encourage people to catch it during the scheduled run as there’s never any guarantee!
Thanks very much to Perry for filling us in on this exciting show coming up soon.
Slippery plays at the Omnibus Theatre from Tuesday 17 March until Saturday 11 April.
