I HAVEN’T BEEN SO INVESTED IN A WILL-THEY WON’T-THEY NARRATIVE SINCE ROSS AND RACHEL FROM FRIENDS

By Rachel Cameron-Potter ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Stuff Rachel Says | Press Invite

Tucked away on the top floor of an Islington pub is one of London’s best kept secrets. Founded in 2013, The Hope Theatre sits atop the award-winning Hope and Anchor pub on Upper Street, where in the 1970s and 1980s it became a well-known music venue for up-and-coming rock bands, hosting rock legends the Dire Straits, Joy Division and The Clash, to name a few.

Described as a place for “audiences and theatre-makers to explore big ideas”, it naturally became the host venue for North Sapph-fest, a month-long theatre festival dedicated to North London’s creative Sapphic community.

The second piece to grace the Hope Theatre stage this month was They Were Roommates, an hour-long one act performance on queer joy, based around a precarious will-they, won’t-they relationship between two roommates.

Vesper Orion (Janhavi Shivalkar), a financially-struggling freelance writer, allows their newly-single best friend Astrid (Song Marshall) to move in with them after the breakdown of an emotionally abusive relationship. There’s just one caveat: Vesper has been in love with Astrid since the day they met, and moving in together could be a disaster or a dream come true.

Acting as the voice of reason is Nova (Odiesia Daley), Vesper’s best friend and Astrid’s coworker, who becomes the soundboard for the two friends as they navigate boundaries while learning to live together. Aware of Vesper’s feelings for Astrid, she is the first to remark on how much of a bad idea the move is, yet in true best friend fashion stay supportive through the chaos that follows.

Working with the small space on the top floor of the venue, the audience sits in a circular layout around the stage area, creating an intimacy that puts the viewer at the heart of the action. We’re able to catch the coy glances and furrowed brows that speak volumes, crucial for a play that centres around mixed signals and lapses in communication.

The play opens with music blaring through the speakers and the performers heard singing off stage, setting the scene for a play about queer joy. The tone shifts when the performers come on stage and settle into a somewhat wooden conversation that establishes the relationships between the characters, but feels slightly forced in doing so.

Not before long, Astrid darts off stage after receiving an onslaught of texts from her controlling partner, and returns after a time skip with a suitcase, alluding to the break up that sets the play in motion.

After an arguably frigid opening, the play starts to pick up speed as the characters open up and get to know one another. Vesper’s outburst following Astrid’s prying into their notes left on the table is the first time we see a fissure in their relationship, yet the conflict is quickly resolved by a frank discussion on boundaries and a candid conversation on their troubling pasts.

Things seem harmonious for a time, and watching the two fall in love (or rather, Astrid start to develop feelings for Vesper) was genuinely heartwarming. When their relationship looks set to develop after a slow dance and a bottle of wine, Vesper’s hesitance is misread by Astrid as rejection, causing the latter to grow distant and the former to rebuke themselves for missing their chance.

Watching this unfold got me heavily invested in the characters, and I found myself sharing Nova’s eye rolls and exasperated sighs at Vesper’s hesitancy and Astrid’s lack of awareness. I found myself at points wanting to shout “For Christ’s sake, talk to each other!”

Of course, a play about queer joy wouldn’t be complete without a happily ever after, and just in the nick of time the two confess their feelings for each other and share a kiss on stage.

Perhaps Marshall (also the writer of the play) could have cut the scene where Astrid and Vesper meet for the first time for a slightly better flow, as while the scene didn’t hurt the story’s progression it didn’t add much to it either.

Nonetheless, ‘They Were Roommates’ is a heartwarming tale performed by a trio of talented actors, and it’s safe to say I haven’t been so invested in a will-they won’t-they narrative since Ross and Rachel from Friends.

They Were Roommates ran at The Hope Theatre, as part of North Sapph-Fest 2026, from 4 to 6 August.

WEBSITE

⭐⭐⭐⭐