Writer and Director: Sam Smith
Writer and director Sam Smith’s Older, a loosely connected trilogy of short, coming-of-age, two-handers, showcases a diverse range of writing styles and boasts likeable gender-blind casting. Ultimately, though, one yearns for a little more clarity in what the pieces are getting at.
In the slice of absurdism Telemachy, we seemingly meet Telemachus (Danielle James), waiting anxiously for their father, Odysseus, to return from years of campaigning. The teenager, who has not seen their dad since they were three, spends their time learning to play violin accompaniment for an entire album of Judy Garland ditties. They eat tuna sandwiches supplied by a sidekick (Kate McNally), who seems to be a product of their febrile imagination. “If I stop waiting, I’m giving up”, they tell us, looking into the far distant purple sky. “It’s not the future, Telemachus, it’s only the sky,” the sidekick sagely advises. Imagine if Godot had a pining child at home, lingering impatiently for a reappearance that will never happen – because waiting is the point of the exercise – and you will more or less get the picture. The piece has atmosphere, but it is hard to pin down quite what it is trying to say.
Danielle James returns as the lovestruck Isaac in Men of Feeling. It is summer in Cyprus, and they swim out to a rock with their love object and erstwhile university fellow, Samuel (Anna Pryce Marks). “You think I did all this to prove I can swim?” Isaac asks rhetorically. No, Isaac, who quotes Dickens and is “a picture book of feelings”, has something to say. “I love you”, they tell Samuel, whom they met in a lecture theatre and later seduced at a house party, entranced by Samuel’s Premier Inn receptionist’s style purple outfit. What could go wrong? Well, predictably, Samuel does not feel the same way. “You’re not saying anything?” Isaac says, dejectedly. Presumably, Men of Feeling is a meditation on the pains and perils of first love, but it is hard to tell. James is fantastic, though, as the distraught lip-quivering Isaac.
The final, much more satisfying piece, No Pants, sees protagonist Thea (Danielle James, once more), who has recently transitioned to womanhood, meet up with former dance class alumnae and best friend Tabs (Rachel Andrews is fantastic). Thea is grieving the recent loss of their mother and is bitter at Tabs’ extended absence on a global tour of a West End musical. You haven’t been there “for all the hard bits,” Thea complains as they reflect on a childhood as the only boy in an all-girls class. Broadly speaking, Thea cannot dance anymore, and Tabs cannot stop dancing. Will the duo find a way of reconciling? A complication arises in the form of Tabs’ revelation of their pregnancy. No Pants has plenty of conflict and cries out for more time to let the drama play out.
Runs until 24 May 2026
