Writer: Sophia Griffin
Director: Corey Campbell
It’s not often that you hear sobs as well as sniffles in the quiet of the theatre, but Sophia Griffin’s astounding theatre debut After Sunday weaves a resounding and tender story that’s hard to look away from.
Following an initial run at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, After Sunday arrives at Bush Theatre with a complex, deeply human tale set in a Caribbean cooking class inside a secure hospital. Three men come together to cook, argue, and rebuild – guided by their occupational therapist Naomi (Aimée Powell) – finding healing in the power of food and connection.
The sizzle of frying dumplings becomes the production’s soundtrack. Claire Winfield’s clever set, a fully working kitchen, allows the ‘service users’ (never ‘patients’) to weave, collide and confess. Their short weekend cooking sessions turn the quotidian into something hugely personal and profound for both the men and Naomi.
It’s a story about mental health and the criminal justice system, but it’s ultimately a personal and character-driven one, which is where this production hits home. The result is a story that is heartbreakingly personal, but never feels didactic. Griffin’s comments on the wider injustices of the system, its pitfalls and racism, are interspersed powerfully, but seeing those injustices acted out on such beautifully layered characters is affecting to watch.
Corey Campbell’s sensitive direction means that the 100 minutes, uninterrupted by an interval, speed by. The pacing is meticulous, and it sees the story through the laughs, the anger, the tension, and the emotion with perfect balance. It’s an excellent complement to Griffin’s text.
An outstanding ensemble of actors utilises Griffin’s deeply character-led text. David Webber’s devastating Leroy, an older man looking to reconnect with his daughter, delivers the evening’s most emotional moments (and many of the aforementioned sobs).
For a play set in such a tense location, there are many laughs, particularly elicited by 20-something Ty (Corey Weekes), who is brash and unashamed in his comedy, powerful in his anger, and extremely moving in the pain that barely conceals it.
After Sunday is a moving, humane piece of theatre, one that will stay with you long after the final scene. Truly worth a watch.
Runs until 20 December 2025
