Sliding with Suzanne

Synopsis

Brighton’s grey seafront shimmers with unfulfilled promise as a woman teeters on the edge of her own reinvention.

Suzanne, 35 and fraying at the edges, stumbles back to Brighton with dreams of a fresh start and the weight of her past clinging to her like sea spray. Her homecoming quickly unravels into a tragicomic tangle of desperation and dark humor as she navigates the choppy waters of single motherhood, financial ruin, and a town that seems determined to push her over the edge. At the heart of her struggle is Luka, her foster son, a living reminder of both her capacity for love and her potential for failure.

Upton’s wit slices through the grim reality of working-class Brighton, exposing the raw nerves of a society where second chances come at a premium. The play’s caustic humor and unflinching portrayal of economic despair create a world both recognizable and slightly off-kilter, mirroring Suzanne’s increasingly desperate attempts to find solid ground. Through a series of darkly comic encounters and poignant moments of self-reflection, Sliding with Suzanne paints a vivid picture of a woman caught between her past mistakes and the terrifying possibility of hope, all set against the backdrop of a seaside town where dreams go to retire.