This review most definitely contains spoilers. If you just want to go on the ride that is Slave Play, then I highly recommend doing so. As per Canadian Stage’s website, “Slave Play contains nudity, sexual content, simulated sexual violence, and racially violent language. Recommended for audiences 18+ only.” But if you’d like to know a bit more about what you’re getting yourself into, and my thoughts on this incredible play, then please come along this journey with me.

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Does your mixed-race relationship have you feeling down? Is you white partner unable to fulfill your needs? Then do we have the therapy for you! The only thing missing from Jeremy O. Harris’ riveting play is the presumed advertisement or infomercial which got these characters in the room in the first place, but I imagine it sounded something like that. Slave Play, deftly directed by Jordan Laffrenier, follows three couples as they engage in…experimental therapy to help with their performance in the bedroom. With a fast-paced text, multi-dimensional characters, and a unique set of circumstances, it’s no wonder why Slave Play has caused ripples throughout the theatre community. Yet at its core, Slave Play has an emotional depth which goes far beyond the surface tension in the play.

Slave Play is unlike anything I’ve seen on stage before, or am likely to see again. There is a frankness about the subject matter, paired with a deep care and understanding of the emotions it evokes, which makes for a mind-expanding combination. Three couples have signed up for “Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy” and yes you read that right. Using various methodologies, the scientists and psychologists in charge are hoping to reinvigorate the sex lives of the participants through exploring generational and systemic racial trauma. When we meet the couples, it’s fantasy role play day, and things don’t go precisely as planned. In their therapy session the pairs begin to share about their experiences, talking about what worked, and airing their grievances that the whole thing ended before they were finished. Forced to examine their positions not just within their relationship, but society as a whole, has a clear affect on everyone involved, including the facilitators. Slave Play is an intricately woven ingenious play that could be seen over and over again and you’d find something new.

Jeremy O. Harris’ text makes for an uncomfortable viewing experience, yet it’s easy to recognize that the discomfort is the point: not just for the characters, but for the audience as well. Slave Play shies away from nothing, giving us everything from heirloom dildos and real whips, to discussions of race, gender, sexual preferences, fetish, and much more. There’s also the amount of representation we see on the stage: there’s two straight couples, but then also two queer couples as well, and of course a blend of races and gender expressions. Harris’ play leaves no one out of the conversation, which at times is both reassuring and troublesome all at once. It can feel like it’s all just there for shock factor, the acts we witness and the desires of those asking for those acts. Yet when it’s broken down during their therapy session, when they actually talk about what they need and where those needs are stemming from, the whole play coalesces into this beautiful exploration of how the past can come and haunt us in the present. The final scene crystallizes everything you’ve watched over the past two hours and allows you to see much more clearly through that character’s eyes and history.

Part of the “Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy” is the immersion within the fantasy world, and so the play takes place inside a Virginia plantation. The set consists of a shiny black material which makes the facade of a room inside one of these plantations: high ceilings, french doors, and the moulding around the doorways immediately evokes the classic colonial southern plantation. You can’t see any of this when you first enter the theatre; they keep the lights down so that bits of the set are revealed as the first act progresses. What you can see, is a butcher’s block, with a spotlight on a bowl of fruit, and the whole audience being reflected in a mirror. There’s a candelabra on the back wall with a fish-eye sort of mirror in it, meaning that you can see yourself and those around you throughout the performance. This unnerving addition to Gillian Gallow’s incredible set is a constant reminder that you’re implicated in what you’re witnessing; while we might feel outside of it all and think we’re passive observers, we can also be seen in the set itself. Rachel Forbes’ costume design is note perfect, with everyone’s outfits so clearly evoking their personalities.

Slave Play boasts an impressive cast of some of Toronto’s most riveting storytellers. Sophia Walker and Gord Rand play Kaneisha and Jim; the two of them give raw, powerful performances which truly speak to the heart of what this play is about. Sébastien Heins’ Philip is such a great juxtaposition to Amy Rutherford’s Alana: he’s quiet and relaxed (until he’s not) while she gives off major people pleaser energy. Justin Eddy and Kwaku Okyere round out the participants as Dustin and Gary. I loved their chemistry and yet when they start to argue, you can feel the wounds made with each word. Beck Lloyd and Rebecca Applebaum play the scientists Teá and Patricia. I love their embodiment of the chill science hippie and butch lesbian respectively; they were a treat after a very intense first act. I find it difficult to imagine a more perfect cast for this play, particularly here in Toronto.

Slave Play is totally unforgettable; from the performances to this wild ride of a story, Slave Play keeps you engaged from the first moment to the last. This incredible cast deserves huge amounts of kudos for being this open and vulnerable, both physically and emotionally, for us all; it’s truly something you have to see for yourself.

Slave Play runs at the Berkeley Street Theatre until October 26. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.canadianstage.com/shows-events/season/slave-play

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Cover Photo: Sophia Walker. Photos by Dahlia Katz. Set Design by Gillian Gallow. Costume Design by Rachel Forbes. Lighting Design by Daniel Bennett.

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