Review: Toxic at Lowry is ‘a raw and unfiltered dive into love and trauma’

Set within the underground Manchester queer rave scene, Nathaniel J Hall has crafted a an intensely introspective play, which delves into the lasting traumas of life and relationships through evocative performances and strikingly distinct visuals.

Toxic is bold, raw, and fiercely personal, drawing heavily on Hall’s own experiences, but an unrelenting pace and awkward dialogue prevent the show from fully encapsulating Britney Spears ‘Poison paradise’ of toxic love.

The semi-autobiographical narrative follows the turbulent relationship between two members of the LGBTQIA+ community as they communicate their traumas of living in a world of homophobia, queerphobia and racism.

Toxic at LOWRY

What unfolds is a chaotic, club lit descent into the scars left by trauma and the volatile love that can form in its wake.

At the centre of Toxic is an honesty, a want to depart from the positivity of the contemporary Pride Movement and present a much more honest and real depiction of modern love and modern problems.

This honesty is felt most within Hall’s and co-performer Josh-Susan Enright’s performances, the pair intertwine physically and emotionally across the stage with palpable intensity.

There is a powerful emphasis on being seen and heard in such close quarters with the audience placed right up against the couple’s spiralling descent.

Hall’s dedication to self-interrogation is at the core of the show, as he delves heavily into the themes of isolation by interjecting his own experiences with HIV directly into the narrative.

Exploring the impacts of living as HIV+

His performance is strong and emotive, and each emotional and comedic scene is professionally acted, with each monologue on the impacts of living as HIV+ being genuinely emotive and moving.

Equally, Enright’s performance is just as impactful, as they tackle the micro-aggressions that one would face being both non-binary and mixed race.

They bring a fierce level of honest frustration and genuine care to their role and execute it brilliantly.

Both performers captivate the stage, however their performance is hindered by a hesitance of commit to showcasing the true extent of their traumas, with each emotional scene failing to reach a strong emotional resonance due to the infuriating reliance on comic relief.

Comedy is often an integral part of therapy, the ability to laugh at the darkest times speaks truly to our humanity however in this instance it just takes away from the impact of these more serious scenes, with each monologue of trauma being interrupted by a stark nosedive into pop-culture references and awkwardly timed jokes.

Not each comedy number was unsuccessful, one choreographed dance number, saw both Hall and Enright dawning Britney costumes in a genuinely delightful moment. If Hall had just toned back the number of jokes in the show, it would have left room for the more emotional scenes to breathe and a pace that did not seem so frantic and disconnected.

Capturing Manchester’s queer rave scene

Tracey Gibbs perfectly captured the essence of Manchester’s queer rave scene by embellishing the stage with neon lights and strong cascading visuals of emoji and drugs, punctuating the emotional scenes with a further sense of authenticity.

This can also be said for Lu Herbet’s simple yet effective set design, which featured cracked cobbled walls and windows mirroring the fracture and eventual disparity of this troubled and complicated couple. This small and mobile set, allowed for quick scene changes the climatic split of the stage into two at the emotional crescendo of the play, honestly impressed.

Toxic presents essential conversation on the long-lasting effects of trauma and ignorance of emotional toxicity. Hall opens past wounds to the audience in an intimate yet salient way, however these moments of true intimacy are often fleeting as scenes move at such a frenetic pace that there’s little lasting impact. The
dialogue, though enthusiastic and raw, often folds in on itself due to frequent unsuccessful attempts to break the tension of the scene with comedy or a throwaway pop-culture reference.

As a result, some of the show’s most provocative and poignant moments feel simply rushed or underdeveloped.

Still, Toxic is a strong piece of theatre. It does not offer clean answers or comforting resolutions, but it does speak loudly to the complex, often messy intersections of trauma and desire.

Though it may not entirely encapsulate the passionate allure of Spears’ ‘Toxic’ it certainly captures the spirit; love that is addictive and utterly consuming.

Tickets for Toxic at LOWRY

Toxic is at LOWRY until Saturday the 19th of April 2025. Tickets are available here

You can see what’s on at LOWRY by clicking here