EDINBURGH FRINGE: After Party at the Traverse, Traverse 1***** (2 hrs 5 mins with interval)

Don’t be like me and see Cathy and After Party consecutively. While both can be classed as comedies they each portray families at their ugliest and both deal with… death.

Unlike Cathy, where the deceased’s relatives sit down to a Chinese takeaway, After Party oozes style and elegance. Well, Richard Kent’s set certainly does. As for the family, there’s always one black sheep and, in this case, Gilly Gilchrist plays the grasping son of a dying actress with great conviction.

Vivienne, a once famous actress, is about to celebrate her 80th birthday by gathering her family together to tell them that the next day she is going to die.

How each family member deals with the news is what makes a very entertaining and at times harrowing couple of hours, with a diminutive Alison Peebles at its centre, acting for all the world like she is at death’s door. I don’t mind telling you, the final scene was so beautifully done I had to stop myself from sobbing out loud.

There are lots of wonderful, well rounded characters in this play directed by Katie Posner. I particularly liked Benny Young as Viv’s theatrical ex-husband, Rachel Dick is a breath of fresh air as ‘glamma’s’ granddaughter, and Liz Kettle’s performance as Viv’s companion is beautifully understated.

Assisted dying is never far from the news these days so this play, by Morna Young, will certainly give you something to think about, either for or against.

Image: Marc Brenner

After Party is at the Traverse, Traverse 1 until Aug 30.

Don’t be like me and see Cathy and After Party consecutively. While both can be classed as comedies they each portray families at their ugliest and both deal with… death.

Unlike Cathy, where the deceased’s relatives sit down to a Chinese takeaway, After Party oozes style and elegance. Well, Richard Kent’s set certainly does. As for the family, there’s always one black sheep and, in this case, Gilly Gilchrist plays the grasping son of a dying actress with great conviction.

Vivienne, a once famous actress, is about to celebrate her 80th birthday by gathering her family together to tell them that the next day she is going to die.

How each family member deals with the news is what makes a very entertaining and at times harrowing couple of hours, with a diminutive Alison Peebles at its centre, acting for all the world like she is at death’s door. I don’t mind telling you, the final scene was so beautifully done I had to stop myself from sobbing out loud.

There are lots of wonderful, well rounded characters in this play directed by Katie Posner. I particularly liked Benny Young as Viv’s theatrical ex-husband. Rachel Dick is a breath of fresh air as ‘glamma’s’ granddaughter, and Liz Kettle’s performance as Viv’s companion is beautifully understated.

Assisted dying is never far from the news these days so this play, by Morna Young, will certainly give you something to think about, either for or against.

Image: Marc Brenner

After Party is at the Traverse, Traverse 1 until Aug 30.