THE Old Red Lion is preparing to welcome two versions of a play that tells the story of a toxic relationship – and encourages its audience to challenge their preconceptions regarding gender and power dynamics.

Following a sold-out run at the Viola! theatre festival, Spent is returning to the stage this month. The play sees two characters – known only as A and B – navigating a complicated relationship that forces the audience to think about power, control and abuse.

There are two versions of the play, with the male and female actor switching roles nightly.

“The script is exactly the same,” said director Helen Cunningham. “Even staging-wise, we tried to keep it as much the same as possible, with only a couple of differences. In general we approached every scene in the exact same way so the audience is left with no excuse other than gender to see things differently.”

Nikolette Soumeilidis, who wrote Spent, said she wanted to examine “shifting power dynamics in toxic relationships and the subtlety of emotional control and emotionally abusive behaviour”.

“I wasn’t interested in writing something black and white,” she added.

Ms Soumeilidis had originally written the play with one set casting in mind, but after asking the actors to read each other’s lines during rehearsal, she realised how switching the genders of the characters could influence the way the audience reacted.

Ms Cunningham said: “They seem like two separate plays. The dynamics are so different that it seems like such a different story. The scenes have completely different vibes and unfold in completely different ways.”

She added: “There’s a dynamic scene when they have a big fight. One is accusing the other of something, but when it’s a male voice it comes across as a slight threat and when it’s a woman it’s almost a feeble thing. If it’s a man, the natural fear of a man in a room with that level of aggression is more of a threat.”

The pair said they were “excited” to perform at the Old Red Lion Theatre for the first time. “They’ve been a joy to work with,” they added.

Spent will be on from 18-29 March.