Last night I had the privilege of attending the play “Afterglow” at Southwark Playhouse written, directed and choreographed by S. Asher Gelman.

The story is inspired by Asher’s real-life experiences, the play examines and unpacks a gay extramarital relationship and explores the possibilities of polyamory.

Josh (Peter McPherson) and Alex (Victor Hugo) are a Gay married couple who have a consensual open relationship with boundaries set in place .

As it states on the poster, “the climax is just the beginning” The play starts with the couple in bed with a third man Darius (James Nicholson) after the threesome Josh arranges to meet Darius for a one-to-one which ultimately evolves into a loving relationship that challenges the boundaries of Josh’s marriage, putting a strain on his relationship with his husband, who are in the process of become parents through surrogacy.

The trust is broken, and a vulnerable Alex tells Josh to end his relationship with Darius, once this is done josh is left heartbroken and Struggles to move on. Eventually, Alex unable to help Josh allows him to reconnect with Darius, hoping it will fix the problem. Ending in an emotional and dramatic finish.

In the first 10 minutes, I was concerned I was going to witness another stereotypical Gay story that only focuses on sex, giving the impression that all gay men can’t survive more than 10 minutes without jumping into bed with a stranger, but as the play evolved, I was pleased that it took us on the journey into the more emotional and vulnerable side of queer relationships and the challenges we face growing up with the Boundaries and ideals of of what a relationship should look like in a heterosexual world.

Overall, the writing was good. There were a few laughs, and also difficult emotional scenes which gave the actors a chance to show their range and versatility, giving the characters depth and vulnerability which as an audience we can identify with.

I found the transitions and some of the choreography between scenes, sometimes clumsy and a little awkward which ultimately took me out of the moment rather than adding to the narrative.

The shower scene in the middle of the stage was effective at first, but after the second and third shower scenes, I felt sorry for the actors trying to tell the story and be present in the scenes whilst being on their hands and knees mopping up residue water, It was distracting and made me question how necessary the effect was to the plot?

The same with the nudity in the show, at times, it felt relevant and made sense but at other times it felt forced, watching the poor actors, get naked and changed multiple times took them away again from what could have been more intense and focused scenes.

I felt the director was somewhat spoon-feeding the audience at times by showing too much, not having the confidence that an audience is capable of following a storyline without the need to watch multiple costumes and set changes.

All three actors did a great job betraying the different characters, you really felt their love, Joy, struggle and pain as they individually and collectively tried to navigate their way through a complex and challenging situation. They had great chemistry on stage, which felt authentic, The play overall had many great moments.

“Afterglow” ticks a lot of boxes, it makes you laugh, feel emotions, leave having had a glimpse into others’ lives, and makes you question the possibilities of multiple relationships and the impact it has on us and the people around us.

⭐️⭐️⭐️