⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
By Anastasia Raymond
With an entirely sold out run even before opening night, I Fucked You in My Spaceship by Louis Emmitt-Stern has clearly been a much anticipated billing in this years Vault Festival program, and is one of the five scripts chosen by the festival to be published this year. If you are unfamiliar with the festival, Vaults is London’s answer to the Edinburgh fringe and takes place annually in the graffiti filled Leake Street Arches in Waterloo. Due to COVID and funding problems there has not been a Vault festival since 2019, but this year it is back with a vengeance and I was lucky enough to attend I Fucked You in My Spaceship on its opening night, 7th February.
From the off it was clear why this script has been selected to be published; the writing was witty, realistic and incredibly funny without ever being too in your face with the humour or too obvious with the intent. The dialogue was highly effective and gave an excellent scaffold for the piece from which the actors could build their world and draw us in. The cast of six had no weak link, each was perfectly cast in their character and together they allowed the absurdly comical notions of the script to become normalised and relatable to an audience who don’t all fantasise about “fucking someone wearing an alien costume”.
As Leo, Jonas Moore gave a stand out performance; he was captivating and had mastered the mannerisms of his character’s obsession with space so deeply that the audience could almost read his mind just by watching his eyes. He is a very talented individual and an actor to keep your eye one!
However the rest of the cast all also gave fantastic performances and each had moments where they shone; as Anna, Rebecca Banatvala was a powerhouse and drew a huge deal of empathy through her onstage work. Lucy Spreckley played her partner Emily very well and was an instantly likeable and relatable character for the audience. As Robbie, Lewis Shepherd had the audience in stitches with his dead pan comic timing, Max Hyner had moments of true revelation and perfectly portrayed the push over partner, Dan, and as Al, Felix Kai oozed sex appeal and almost seemed to float about the stage with an aura of lust about them.
This play works with a blank canvas space and uses the minimalist approach throughout. I enjoyed the implied nature of Joseph Winer’s directing style – saying not doing – as this created a world where the story telling of the actors was paramount and the words were what we relied on rather than using props and set to show the scene.
This was a very enjoyable hour of theatre and I think was a perfect example of what the vaults festival is all about; it was moving, touched on important LGBTQ+ themes and had moments of real crisis and upset that sat seamlessly within the comic style.
Sadly the rest of the run is already sold out, but I urge you to venture down to Leake Street and soak up the atmosphere and catch another of the hundreds of shows that are on offer. This is London’s up and coming theatre scene in all its glory and you really don’t want to miss it.
Performance Attended: 07/02/2023 (Press Invite)
CentreStage 