Before After, now running at the Southwark Playhouse started life in workshops in 2014 and most famously was livestreamed from the Southwark in 2020. It is now a two-part musical with live band.
Its start in life will no doubt draw in the curious as will its strong cast. Grace Mouat (SIX, Legally Blonde – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and Jacob Fowler (Heathers) both had a cadre of fans at the stage door the night I went. Fowler and Mouat were strong but I felt the lack of variation in the drama and the score by Stuart Matthew Price limited their room to move both emotionally and vocally.
This musical has much to offer and perhaps the next iteration will prove more satisfying. But personally, I found the plot (Timothy Knapman) to have a few holes. I had so many questions about people’s pasts, their motives and when they actually enjoyed the relationship. Perhaps because I live in a close-knit area, I don’t think I could rekindle a forgotten relationship without half the neighbourhood pointing out what I was up to by lunchtime. I also never quite understood why Ami would not want to share the truth with Ben once she saw how much he sought it.
The musical is short at 90-minutes so there would also have been time for the romantic relationship to be more developed. We saw all of the angst but absolutely none of the fun. I wonder if these are explored more in the book. Adding some of the playfulness of new love would have made the later scenes more meaningful and have left room for more variation in the score. Some percussion behind the singers in some of the more dramatic moments might also have really let the emotion fly.
Have others seen Before After? What were your thoughts?
Red Bus Londinium Life 
Leave a comment