Review: Secrets and subtlety make for a different kind of play on Coventry stage

If you were to die tomorrow, what memory would you like to take with you to eternity? That’s the question Jack Thorne’s 2021 play Afterlife poses. Here there is no heaven or hell. Rather a kind of technical holding station where souls go to have their most precious memories first identified then developed into a permanent form which they then take with them to the stars.

There must be many of these stations, or only a few souls who qualify, because there are only a small number who get to enjoy this privilege. These, known as the Guided, are ministered to by the staff, known as Guides, five angel-type figures in boiler suits, whose job it is to listen to their assigned clients and shape their eternal future based on their deepest most sincere moment in the past. Such choices are not necessarily the most obvious ones, and some have great difficulty finding their own key memory. But it’s part of the charm of this lovely, slow-burning and deeply poetical play that the Guides seem to really care about the future of the Guided.

If this doesn’t sound like what one might expect from a drama, well in many ways it isn’t. There isn’t a main plot, and though there is a surprise at the end there isn’t exactly a twist. The stories within the play are more about each characters’ deepest secrets. To have achieved so much for 11 distinct characters, and to have kept us enthralled throughout, is a small miracle of writing, acting and directing.

There are some truly memorable scenes, as when Beatrice (Dawn Morris), an elderly woman who died by suicide, is given the memory of a cherished dance, brilliantly achieved by having the actor dance live on stage with her recorded image as a young woman in a red dress, played on film by Alexandra Vickers on a backdrop screen. It’s a beautifully choreographed moment and brought many a teary smile to the audience.

The Criterion’s production skilfully marries film technology with traditional acting skills. A key thread is the story of Guide Number Two (Ted McGowan), aka Charlie, who realises he once loved the woman who later became the wife of one of the newly arrived clients, Hari Markowitz (Jon Elves), and helps him to find his key memory of her. It is typical of the play’s generosity that this is an important part of the story and also the human condition which the play is, in a sense, about. What holds it together is love.

If all this sounds a bit too sentimental or philosophical, don’t worry. The play is very funny and full of great characters with interesting stories and relationships to whom we easily warm. The whole cast work well together, delivering all the seriousness and charm within a set that is both clever and unintrusive.

It is worth seeing this production more than once because it is full of subtle details that get under the skin, but which might not be observed on a single viewing. It stands out as something unusual, a serious play that treats big issues with a light touch.

After Life runs until February 11. Visit criteriontheatre.co.uk to book.