AFTERGLOW

A review by Susy Brett

From an eye-catching opening sequence to the powerful conclusion, Afterglow at the Southwark Playhouse is thoroughly engrossing.

Afterglow tells the real-life story of a gay married couple that invite a younger man into their bed. Josh (Sean Hart) is a 35-year-old theatre director and his husband Alex (Danny Mahoney) a scientist. They tell each other everything, even the details of their extramarital relationships with other men. That is until they meet Darius (Jesse Fox), a professional masseur, who both brings them together and drives them apart.

Believe the advertising for this show – Afterglow had some of the raunchiest scenes I have ever seen on stage. It starts with a triple simultaneous orgasm. The first scene features all three actors wearing nothing. There’s a shower scene that will have everyone talking about it.

The eye-candy is not all this show has to offer, however. A beautiful script by S. Asher Gelman brilliantly captures the complexity of human relationships. The plot runs perhaps predictably, but the execution is slick. There is an outcome that leaves no character satisfied, but feels astonishingly human as Josh, Alex and Darius hurtle towards the inevitable conclusion. What’s so delicious here is no single character is at fault – it’s hard to assign blame to any party. It makes it all the more agonising as the characters struggle with their conflicting feelings.

A script can only be as good as its actors, and the acting was slick throughout. There’s meaty dialogue for each of the three cast members, although a special shout out is necessary for a devastating scene where Fox’s Darius curls up alongside his own dirty laundry in his heartbreak. Their characters felt real and easy to empathise with, which makes it absolutely gutting when some of their arguments turn nuclear.

It’s not perfect. The very long scene transitions walk the line between unwittingly causing the audience’s attention to wander to total arrogance in their confidence in keeping one engaged. During these transitions, club music blares – changing and increasing in tempo for drama. At first, this is exciting and new. As the show progresses, it begins to feel repetitive at best and irritating at worst.

That said, the set design is impressive. The ease at which a bed can become a massage table to a sofa to a rooftop is an achievement, even if it does take so long for the three actors to manage it all.

By the end of Afterglow, I was so wrapped up in the lives and relationships of these three men that I had momentarily forgotten the shower scene – that’s how good it was.