Family matriarch Vivienne Blackwood (Alison Peebles) – an octogenarian former actress affectionately known as ‘Glam-Ma’ for her fabulous outfits and raucous parties – summons her family to impart some important news. Affairs quickly degenerate into bickering and backbiting as Viv’s news upsets and divides her already fractious family.
It is no spoiler to say that in the world of the play, assisted dying has become a legal right, and Viv’s news is that she plans to legally end her life the following day. This understandably profoundly upsets her family, particularly grasping son Geoff (Gilly Gilchrist) and devout daughter Lily (Hilary Maclean). However, her sweet-natured granddaughter Sasha (Rachel Dick), therapised grandson James (Angus Yellowtrees) and his spiky, live-your-truth partner Cass (Ruby Glyne) are more supportive. The presence of Carol (Liz Kettle) – one of Geoff’s many previous wives – and Viv’s actor ex-husband Bill (Benny Young) do anything but pour oil on troubled waters.
The first half fairly rollicks along, driven by the energy of a reunited family who don’t really like each other all that much. The script is sharp and funny, and writer Morna Young has fun transposing the classic upper middle class country house set-up to the modern day.
Unfortunately, after a promising start, the play becomes increasingly shallow in the second half, despite its lofty aims. Viv and Bill pepper their conversation with quotations from Shakespeare, a habit that is initially charming and witty but swiftly becomes grating, and risks suggesting that Young can’t find her own words to tackle fraught discussions around end-of-life decision making.
Most of the characters reveal themselves to be unsympathetic and caricatured ciphers, their objections to assisted dying rooted in self-interest and lacking any nuance. An eloquent case is made for the virtues of allowing terminally ill people in unbearable pain to choose their own end, but there is little attempt made to seriously engage with valid ethical concerns opponents might have. Instead, Viv’s children are either greedy or fundamentalist in their beliefs, and their objections therefore easily glossed over. Such caricatures also mean the play fails as an examination of damaged family dynamics, or the wider issue of letting go of a loved one.
Most relatable is Carol, the calm spine at the centre of things. Viv’s decision clearly causes her a pain rooted not in self-interest but love, although even here we are denied the chance to see Carol’s journey to acceptance. She is played with an affectionate wryness by Liz Kettle, often seeming to hold things together both within the world of the play and on the stage.
Ruby Glyne is a sparky and engaging presence as Cass – a semi-successful pop-punk musician – but her character isn’t given much more to do than stamp her foot frustratedly at the tedious behaviour of the Blackwood clan. Benny Young’s Bill is a very plausible charming old rake but it is a real shame that Alison Peebles as Viv is clearly struggling to remember and deliver her lines, often denuding scenes of momentum.
After Party promises to be sharp, darkly funning and unflinching. It does succeed on occasion at being the first two, and deserves credit for trying to tackle a challenging and emotive subject. However, it shies away from raising and effectively tackling reasoned opposition to assisted dying, possibly doing the cause a disservice. ‘There are no happy endings, just endings’, says Carol, but After Party can’t resist flinching, and providing a happy one.
Performed at The Traverse Theatre on 09 August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe
See website for dates and times
Running time: 2 hours and 5 minutes, including interval
Writer: Morna Young
Co-creator: Alex Fthenakis
Director: Katie Posner
Set & Costume Designer: Richard Kent
Lighting Designer: Rory Beaton
Sound Designer & Composer: Oğuz Kaplangi
Cast: Rachel Dick, Gilly Gilchrist, Ruby Glyne, Maryam Hamidi, Liz Kettle, Hilary Maclean, Alison Peebles, Angus Yellowlees, Benny Young