After Life (2023)
by Jack Thorne, adapted from the film by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Performances: Tuesday 30 May to Saturday 3 June 2023, Old Fire Station
Contents
Introduction
In a bleak grey bureaucratic space the newly deceased get to pick the one memory they would like to endure within for eternity. In what the Guardian referred to as "an ode to stage management" we see a week of work in this bureaucratic limbo, as the newly deceased (the “guided”) worry over which memory to pick, while the resident staff (the “guides”, whose motto is “We make the impossible happen here") work out how best to recreate them. Jack Thorne’s play is adapted from the award-winning 1998 film written and directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.
Cast
Guides
- One - Gabriela Jones
- Two - Rex Lee
- Three - David Chappell
- Four - Kianna Griffith-Tapper
- Five - Jo Parry
Guided
- Obafemi Taylor - Daniel L Gregory
- Jill Smart - Sophie Asha Arram
- Hirokazu Mochizuki - Chris Stooke
- Beatrice Killick - Ingrid Miller
- Katie Mochizuki - Cambria Bailey-Jones
- Young Hirokazu - Tom Mathias
- Actor Harold - Foeke IJntema
- Henry Thompson - Tom Mathias
- Graham Jenkins - Tom Mathias
- Young Beatrice - Sophie Asha Arram
- Voices - Han Evans, Sam Evans and Tom Mathias
- Man in the rain - David Clements
Crew
- Assistant Director - Han Evans
- Stage Manager - David Clements
- Lighting design - Jo Boniface
- Sound design - Adam Crook and Han Evans
- Assistant Stage Manager - Foeke IJntema
- Operators - Jo Boniface and Han Evans
- Rigging - Sean Thomas
- Propmaker - Dan Brooks
- Blossom dropper made by - John Winters
- Projections - Han Evans and Mark Ireson
- Wigs and make up - Lily Ann Coleman
- Choreography - Anna Callender
- Accordion tuition - Owen Chidlaw
- Construction and get in - Graham Clements, Sean Thomas, John Winters, Cal Beckett, Sam Evans, cast and crew
- Rehearsal photography - Han Evans
- Production photography - Jon Schick
Thanks
All the volunteers in the SLT box office, front of house and bar teams
Cal Beckett for the original ticket
Jess Osorio
Rebecca Vincent
Sarah and Robin at The Hope
National Theatre Archive
Janine Wunsche and the cast of True West
Dennis Fenton
Kelly Kim Clements
Charlotte Benstead
Owen Chidlaw, the bee’s knees of squeeze
…and a very special thank you to the directors, casts and crews of SLT’s forthcoming productions Gabriel, Shimmer, The Girl On The Train and The Railway Children for their unique contribution to this production.
Reviews
Some review quotes go here
Gallery
Gallery
- Photos by Jon Schick
Reminiscences and Anecdotes
Members are encouraged to write about their experiences of working on or seeing this production. Please leave your name. Anonymous entries may be deleted.
See Also
Have there been other SLT productions of this play? Link to them here.
Or add anything that is related within this site. The author's page for instance or other plays with a similar theme.
