The Departure – The Lion & Unicorn Theatre

In The Departure we encounter Lily, an emerging scientist returning from her mother’s funeral, who discovers Ross, a stranger staying in her flat seemingly without reason. We later discover that Ross knows Lily’s roommate Jules, who had offered him the flat, but a mix-up over the dates means the two strangers unexpectedly find themselves sharing the space. Ross is waiting for his new passport to arrive at the flat, before taking a flight to move to Australia for a job. Trapped together for the evening, they gradually begin to talk, revealing more about themselves and the grief they are hiding within.

Ross has learned to deal with pain through avoidance. He puts his problems into his pocket watch, compartmentalising them so that he can keep moving. Lily has become deeply anxious after years of living in the shadow of her brilliant scientist mother. As the evening progresses, their very different ways of processing grief begin to collide.

What I found particularly interesting is that these are two complete strangers. They have never met before this day, yet somehow, they become safe enough for each other to talk about things they have been carrying for years. There is something deeply ironic about that. What happens when we keep things bottled up for so long that the person we finally tell is someone, we have only just met? Someone who may understand us, judge us, or simply listen without knowing the history behind what we are saying.

Written by Tom Wells and directed by Jay Ford, this is one of the best shows I have seen in a long time. It is an intense and emotionally wrought two-hander, and not an easy watch. What stayed with me most was the way it asks us to think about grief, but also about the wounds our parents leave behind. The play gives us space to consider our parents as imperfect people who were themselves trying to do the best they could.

Harriet Chomley is remarkable as Lily. She captures the exhausting circularity of anxiety brilliantly: saying something, immediately doubting it, spiralling, reconsidering and eventually questioning her own perception of reality. She makes Lily’s internal world feel completely external, giving us a vivid sense of what it is like to live inside that kind of anxiety. Tom Wells is equally brilliant as Ross. There is a rawness to his performance, particularly when he describes the feeling of everything beginning to disappear around him. His entire physicality changes, making the experience of panic feel immediate and visceral. The chemistry between the two actors is exceptional.

Jay Ford’s direction deserves considerable credit. Directing such a verbose two-hander without losing the detail of the writing is difficult, but here I heard every detail and, more importantly, felt it. At times the argument became so visceral that I could sense a real frustration building in the audience. Ross occasionally becomes difficult to empathise with, and the production allows that discomfort to sit in the room rather than resolving it neatly.

Tom Wells’ writing is a major strength of the production. The dialogue is fast, detailed and often funny, but it trusts the audience. Information is rarely simply explained; it is revealed through the friction between Lily and Ross, through what they choose to say and what they struggle to say. Over the course of the evening, more and more of their histories emerge, making each revelation feel earned. The writing captures the messiness of real arguments, where both people carry their own version of events.

The minimal set works well, particularly in establishing the strange limbo Ross occupies. The opening image of him pacing around the flat in his pyjamas, waiting on customer service while waiting for his passport, is funny yet revealing. The passport becomes a simple but effective device to create a sense of urgency: before it arrives, he cannot leave. And thus has to listen to Lily.

The Departure is a powerful exploration of grief and the different strategies we develop to survive it. It made me think about how we carry the unresolved parts of our relationships with our parents, and what happens when those strategies collide with someone else’s. I left completely blown away. This is a show I genuinely hope gets the opportunity to reach a bigger stage, because it deserves to be seen.

Reviewer: Gaurav Singh Nijjer
Reviewed: 15th September 2026
North West End UK Rating: