Afterwards – Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Writer: Janet Moran

Director: Conall Morrison

Janet Moran’s brand new and thought-provoking play Afterwards takes to the Peacock Stage with an emotional opening preview. Six years after the Repeal the 8th Movement, it is a passionate yet aggressive declaration of what’s next, not only in relation to women and their reproductive rights but also for the referendum itself.

Afterwards showcases three women, two Irish Women – one a married mother of three, the other, an eighteen year old – and a young English solicitor in a recovery ward of an abortion clinic in the UK. The two Irish women, evidently from Cork and Dublin, have travelled from Ireland for the procedure but outwardly make a trip of it seeing friends and family. The English woman we learn later in the play is very familiar with the clinic. All three women remain nameless for the duration of the play as their identity is built strongly on their nationality and events leading up to their current situation. Despite some synchronised movement opening the show we learn these characters couldn’t be more different and become out of step with each other as the play builds. The script turns into a heavy debate of which woman’s consequences leading her to the ward were worse, a situational comparison consisting of a one-night stand, sexual assault and an unwanted maternal pregnancy. Within the first ten minutes of the play some incredibly private questions are asked amongst the women that grab the audience’s attention but maybe in the wrong way. The badgering questions continue creating an air of invasive curiosity that looms over the performance. Despite the recurring motif of the “spirit of solidarity” between the women, the play doesn’t seem to fulfil this message leaving it on a, maybe purposeful, loose end.

From taking your seat, your gaze is directed through a metaphorical window into a pristine recovery ward of an abortion clinic. Immediate acknowledgement must be given to set and costume designer Laura Fajardo Castro for perfectly capturing the clinical aesthetic of a ward with an eye-pleasing colour scheme balancing warm and cold tones very well – all complimented by Suzie Cummins lighting design.

For a non-interrupted 90 minute performance, it felt like the timeline of the narrative was stunted by the short duration of the play, although it is the norm these days for a contemporary piece to touch on 90 minutes, for the amount of sensitive subject matter, it felt like there was a constant need of sudden interruption to keep the story moving instead of letting the moments and audience breathe. There were some attempts at comedic relief mostly given by the two secondary male characters, the young woman’s friend, performed sheepishly by David Rawle and the ward’s orderly.

The small yet strong primary cast consists of Ebby O’Toole-Acheampong, Kate Stanley Brennan and Sophie Lenglinger who control the space very well, managing the ebb and flow of performance energy and stamina with ease. It is evident the cast are very comfortable and in tune with each other despite their characters’ fresh encounter. Praise must be given to O’Toole-Acheampong who is rightfully fixed centre stage and drives the play forward with a raw and driven performance. O’Toole-Achaempong demands your attention with pure presence, executing one of the highlights of the performance beautifully with a direct audience address. Brennan and Lenglinger fulfil their characters very well, with stand out moments from Brennan reminiscing the day the Amendment was repealed and Lenglinger highlighting the pressures on women in a male dominated workplace. However these moments were weakened by accents that at times come across as almost farcical.

It is hard to say whether this is a missed educational opportunity to remind or reinstate the importance of women’s rights and opinions six years on from the referendum, that was overshadowed by an argumentative competition of whose pain is worse rather than an example of mutual support. With all the questions and thirst for self explanation, it begs the thought of who are we to ask such queries and impose an opinion on such a sensitive and private matter. The aim of the play is an immensely worthy subject to cover with clear valid stories in need of being told. Afterwards has to be perceived and addressed, as it requires an individual opinion and societal reflection.