Gripping from its opening moments, this sixty-minute play is a two-hander that invites audiences to saddle on up and hang on for dear life. Detailing the one-night encounter of a Stratford born boy and a Texas bred girl.
The Space Between the Sheets gets into all the nit, grit, and gristle of cross-cultural connection without even getting out of bed. Sexy and fun as Estelle’s “American Boy” and heartachingly funny as a Dolly Parton medley, the rare and gentle thing this play explores isn’t as butterfly-like as love but has many of its flighty and fascinating qualities.
Writer and star Kelsey Ann Moebius takes on the role of the capricious outsider, a young American actor in London fizzing with loneliness and bristling with indignation at the fractured society that has left her so isolated. Like a hummingbird whose wings beat so quickly they appear not to move at all Robin becomes more enigmatic the more she chatters on. Her aggressive southern charm is counterpoised by Cameron Emil Jarvis’s smooth and steady performance as Aaron, a righteous and forthright young poet similarly lost in London’s lonely social landscape. The electric tension between them is invigorating and powers the play through several difficult and urgent conversations on the nature of identity and community.
The deceptively unpretentious writing is lucid and illuminating and director Ewa Emini’s staging is resourceful and resonant. Every element of its design from the mood lighting to the melancholic scoring works in service of its storytellers, highlighting their frictional differences and underscoring their mutual desire. Both actors navigate the incredibly thoughtfully dressed fringe space with a magnetic ease that invites audiences into the experience of their tense attraction and leaves viewers yearning for more when its hour is over.
The auspicious inaugural production of the Sliding Doors Theatre company, The Space Between the Sheets is playing at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre until 15th March.
Reviewer: Kira Daniels
Reviewed: 11th March 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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