REVIEW: SPENT at Old Red Lion Theatre 18 – 29 March 2025

‘One too many issues thrown into the melting pot.’ ★★

Set on a minimalistic stage, with only standing lights and a bench of homely familiarities, SPENT is a psychological two-hander exploring love, sex, career progressions and the power dynamics that interchange between them.

The actors begin by turning on the lights. Under intense, garish, bruise-coloured shine, there is an interrogation at play: the audience needs to pay attention. We meet our characters, A and B, as new flatmates, but the non-linear progression of the play shows us conversations of sexual exploration, awkward family dinners, and mental health struggles. With the play being gender-swapped every other run, I watched as the male, A, an “ambitious executive” with a loving family, and the female, B, a “struggling artist” with a dysfunctional past, fall in love. Communications between the two were initially clear, with rules to their relationship and lives established between the unseen every day: we felt like we were watching the couple learn of and from each other in real time. This often felt too expositional, as there was never an implication of secret keeping, just secrets revealed to us before we had a chance to digest the last ones. With them constantly challenging one another, reminiscent of Beatrice and Benedict, the audience couldn’t take sides – we could only watch the couple inevitably fall apart.

Running at 1.5 hours, the time jumps intended to quicken the pace of the play, yet unfortunately instead left us with more questions: with the timeline not matching the pace of their ever-changing relationship, it was hard to keep up with where they were supposed to be. The actors’ chemistry, however, was undeniable – and it was intriguing to watch the players onstage and wonder how the story would go if the genders were reversed. With every relationship comes complications, yet in this one there felt like too many issues were thrown into the melting pot.

Overall, SPENT was a complicated portrayal of a complicated relationship, but despite strong performances and lighting choices, I couldn’t help wishing for something simpler.

Review by Anna Rastelli

SPENT

The Old Red Lion

18th - 29th March 2025

Box Office

Cast & Creatives

Director: Helen Cunningham

Writer/Actor (female): Nikoletta Soumelidis

Actor (male): Charlie Collinson

Movement Director: Lauren Lucy Cook

Composer/Tech: Sophie Sparkes