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A little less conversation: After Sex @Arcolatheatre

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According to research, millennials in rich countries are having sex less these days. But they were prepared to talk more about it. So, it is no surprise to see a story about what happens when a series of no-strings-attached encounters start to become attachments. And the conversations arising from it. Such is the premise of After Sex, Siofra Dromgoole’s two-hander of the conversations afterwards. It’s not particularly sexy or erotic, and the snappy pacing and short scenes sometimes make you wish they stayed longer to finish the conversation. Nevertheless, it is still a funny and, at times, bittersweet picture of single lives in the big city. It’s currently playing at the Arcola Theatre .  He is bi and works for her in an office job. She is neither ready for a commitment nor to let the office know what’s happening. He isn’t prepared to tell his mum there’s someone special in his life. He doesn’t speak to his dad, so his mum is his world. It’s a perfect relationship/arrangement. Or so it

Man Overboard: The Light House @ParkTheatre


Lightness and dark are in the balance in The Light House, writer and performer Alys Williams's story about the complexity of love. It is a love story about the highs and the lows of falling in love with someone who doesn't always want to be alive. But with some deft storytelling and some inspired audience participation, the piece is an uplifting and funny tale about the joys and otherwise of being in love. After a tour of the UK, it is having its London premiere at Park Theatre as part of their Make Mine a Double season of short plays.


From the outset, Williams sets the piece's tone by calling for audience involvement to help shout "Man overboard" or blow whistles. She is a reassuring navigator, so while every show differs depending on who agrees to participate, you get the sense that you're in safe hands with her.

And that becomes the story here as well. After falling in love with a fellow acting student, how does she find a way to keep the lights on, deal with emergency rooms and long distances and live together? There may be rules and procedures for various things, but what can you do when someone you love doesn't want to be alive? A safe pair of hands is perhaps a start. 

It's a sensitively told story enhanced by an uplifting soundtrack including "Singing in the Rain" and Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love". If songs are the soundtracks to our lives these serve to remind us of the how much there is to life.  

Directed by Andrea Heaton, The Light House is at Park Theatre until 13 April.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos: Ant Robling




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