SPENT – Old Red Lion Theatre

In this daring one act, Greek Austrian playwright and performer Nikoletta Soumelidis and co-star Charlie Collinson draw us into a corrosive dance of love, power, and self annihilation. Soumelidis’s incisive writing examines the intoxicating pull of a BDSM inflected relationship — not for erotic spectacle, but as a stark metaphor for the emotional bondage we too often mistake for passion.

Each night, tables turn, roles swap, and the dominant becomes the submissive. By watching both configurations, audiences confront ingrained assumptions about control, romance, and gender roles—as well as the earliest red flags of abuse.

When Collinson dominates, his stripped back charisma evokes the familiar lure of a thrilling yet self-destructive darkness that irresistibly draws in Soumelidis’s naïve, yearning submissive. In contrast, his submissive turn crackles with a David Tennant–esque vitality — open, energetic, and quirkily magnetic — that Soumelidis’s back footed portrayal of dominance struggles to match; her guarded authority feels distancing rather than provocatively commanding, making her take on submission paradoxically more compelling.

Director Helen Cunningham and movement director Lauren Lucy Cook stage moments of taut physicality, but the actors’ tentative touch often undercuts the script’s visceral ambitions. Clever lighting cues signal temporal shifts, yet abrupt transitions occasionally fracture the fragile illusion of intimacy.

Meanwhile, Soumelidis’s richly poetic language remains both the play’s greatest strength and its Achilles’ heel: without breathing room, its density risks overwhelming performer and spectator alike—and important lines are sometimes lost when backs are turned.

What lingers, however, is Spent’s bold interrogation of romantic mythology in a post Twilight, post Fifty Shades world. Soumelidis lays bare our hunger for validation, our tendency to subsume identity within another person, and the corrosive rage that emerges when that high fades.

Overall, SPENT is a fiercely intelligent piece whose conceptual ambition outshines its uneven execution — a bold sophomore effort that showcases Soumelidis’s distinctive voice and hints at even more provocative work to come.

Playing until 29th March, https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/spent.html

Reviewer: Klervi Gavet

Reviewed: 22nd March 2025

North West End UK Rating: