Review: AFTERGLOW, Southwark Playhouse Borough

Alex and Josh are a beautiful, successful married couple, living a luxurious life in New York and expecting a baby. They also have had an open relationship for many years. This relaxed attitude to fidelity comes under fire when Darius comes into their lives. A young and naïve figure, he is just one more partner for the pair, until he isn’t. Afterglow is a thought-provoking, but rather shallow, exploration of love, trust and betrayal within a relationship.

Based on very personal experience, S. Asher Gelman’s play off-Broadway hit now comes to London’s Southwark Playhouse. Although polyamory is an initial theme, the play quickly becomes a study of a more classic love triangle, where a casual physical fling develops into serious emotional involvement.

The cast of three have an easy chemistry. Victor Hugo brings depth to the role of Alex; hardworking and emotionally intelligent, he shows real vulnerability as partner who is left behind. Sweet and thoughtful, Gelman gives him the most rounded character to work with.

Peter McPherson’s Josh is easy to dislike; spoilt and often petulant, you are almost waiting for him to stamp his feet at the threat of not getting his own way when Alex challenges him about the depth of his feelings for Darius.

As struggling masseur Darius, James Nicholson is often childlike in his wonder at the easy excess of Josh and Alex’s lives. Ever-hopeful that the situation will work itself out, Nicholson elicits knowing sympathy from an audience who see the barely-concealed disaster rapidly bearing down upon the trio.

The writing is not as strong; some of Gelman’s script suffers both from clunky exposition and being under-developed. The topic of Josh and Alex’s baby never goes further than a sequence of fruit-based names and Darius’ expression of financial difficulty and loneliness in a big city is ripe for exploration.

Gelman’s choreography shows a smoother side, with several sex scenes performed without any touching at all, but more as sinuous mating dances. The multiple scene changes are made fluidly, making good use of Ann Beyersdorfer’s endlessly adaptable set. Full of black furniture, mirrored surfaces and flowing white voile curtains, it feels very Eighties. The working shower is central, both in the production and on the stage itself, glowing under Jamie Roderick’s imaginative lighting.

As intimacy director, Lee Crowley must be claiming overtime, as the cast not only spend a lot of time naked, but also often in the shower and in various states of intimate contact. The introductory sex scenes might be necessary to establish the situation, as are the first scenes between Josh and Darius alone together, but some later nude scenes begin to feel distinctly gratuitous.

What is refreshing is to see a play about male gay relationships that does not revolve around HIV or homophobia. As a straight woman, I am probably not the target audience; nevertheless, the production is an insight into the realities of life for many gay men, whilst also telling a universal tale that no one can have it all. It's a shame that it often feels a bit too pleased with itself, even though the purported depth is something of an illusion.

Afterglow runs at the Southwark Playhouse Borough until 10 February

Photo Credits: The Other Richard

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