Afterglow
The Southwark Playhouse, 5th June - 20th July 2019
As the capacity crowd took their seats around the thrust stage of the Southwark Playhouse for Tuesdays press night of Afterglow, we were presented with a bed at the centre of a stylishly simple set from which, as the play began, three naked, writhing, intertwined bodies emerged from the voluminous duvet under which they had been secreted during the audiences arrival. So far so good, as it was a genuinely surprising moment given just how still they had managed to stay during the audiences entrance. Unfortunately, this remained the only surprise S. Asher Gelman’s otherwise fairly predictable play had to offer.
What it lacked in suprises however it seemed determined to make up for in nudity, as once we have been treated to the climatic moment of this ménage à trois, the three characters literally ‘hang-out’ in the bedroom, naked in their post coital afterglow for what seems an inordinate amount of time. That nudity has increasingly become the social media currency by which both straight and gay men are assured a boost in their online popularity, (as well as increasing their 'likes' and even their earning potential along the way), what would once have had the power to shock an audience seemed strangely anodyne here, especially given the interchangeable good looks and buff bodies of the three actors cast. Admittedly it’s rare to find this much nudity on stage at any given time, all three actors clearly pulling the ’naked’ short straw during casting. Thankfully it felt more naturalistic than it did gratuitous... at first... but It was only a matter of minutes after the cast had finally got the opportunity to get dressed, that they were once again shedding their clothes. At this point I found myself seriously considering whether to award the play a number of aubergine emoji’s instead of the more traditional stars!! Clothing does eventually become the modus operandi for the rest of plays duration (mostly), leaving the three characters to deal with the emotional fallout of their night of passion. This, however, is unfortunately when the real cracks start to show. (No pun intended)
Having now been intimately introduced to married couple Alex, played by Danny Mahoney, and Josh, played by Sean Hart along with one night stand Darius, played by Jesse Fox, we watch as feelings start to grow, and Darius finds himself becoming much more important to the couple than the one night stand he was initially meant to be, putting at risk the delicate structure of what rapidly begins to morph into a polyamorous relationship. The drama, such that it is, unfolds fairly predictably, Josh’s growing sexual and emotional dependancy on Darius increasingly ignores the ground rules under which a third persons integration into the relationship had been determined, and so putting at risk his longterm relationship with Alex.
Whilst there’s no doubt polyamory is increasingly seen as an option for couples navigating their way through what a relationship means in the 21st century, Afterglow seems unable to bring anything new (or old) to the debate due, in part, to it’s failure of believably establishing an historical and intimate bond between the married couple at the core of this drama. Instead we are left to assume the depth of this couples feelings, by dint of their married status and the fact they are expecting a baby in a matter of months. These points are delivered more as exposition however, the assumed strength of a relationship that has got them to this moment never quite getting successfully translated to the stage, ultimately making Darius’s arrival of little consequence. Under different circumstances all three characters could have been vieing for the audiences sympathy as things begin to unravel, but as a result of little more than a cursory nod to the emotional impact events leave in their wake, we are left hard pressed to invest in any of them. In fact the only real surprise is how Josh and Alex had even made it this far as a couple, given how naive Josh seems to be about the consequences of his actions, crushing like a schoolboy on Darius in complete oblivion to the ramifications.
Our disbelief gets stretched to breaking point when Josh, seemingly unable to move from the couch as a result of being emotionally and physically crippled at the prospect of a future without Darius, is immediately reinvigorated when his beleaguered husband gives him permission to keep Darius in his life. That his mood almost swings instantly from rock bottom to that of an excited puppy just reinforces the sense that it is hard to invest emotionally in a play that repeatedly fails to invest in its own characters.
I must admit that despite these failings on a dramatic level, it was actually a very enjoyable production to look at… and not just for the more obvious reasons. The ingenuity of a simple yet adaptable set design by Libby Todd took us to a number of locations with real style. This was further enhanced by David Howe’s lighting design, that made several of the set pieces ‘pop’, none moreso than a shower scene which, as a photographer, had me wishing I could have taken the production stills. Joel Price’s sound design also played it’s part, but none of these elements could make up for the fact that the play ultimately seemed to have so little to say.
★★★
