Afterglow

Welcome to the world of gay throuples in New York. S. Asher Gelman is the writer, director and choreographer of this hit play about a married gay couple who take in a third lover. Gelman knows the deal well – he lives in New York with both his husband and his partner, plus two cats.

His creative team are all from the States – arguably ensuring Afterglow in Oz keeps its American strut and pizzazz – but Gelman has cast three handsome, buffed Aussie guys with good US accents. Matthew Mitcham, the Olympian diver, plays the needy Josh and Julian Curtis is Alex, his level headed husband, both hypo-excited about their coming surrogate baby. Matthew Predny is the young masseur Darius who inconveniently finds love in their bedroom but movingly is determined not to wreck a marriage.

All this plays out on Ann Beyersdorfer’s glass and silver set, around a central working shower, with cubes and planks moved quickly around the set to snappy pop music and lots of kisses; it could be a club, a bedroom or chilly apartment.  The actors are all good, if overly performative playing these egotistical Americans anxious to control their lives in the big city.  

Gelman’s script has lots of laughter but the posturing gay banter of these boys has banal moments and leaves unexplored any real backstory or context for these lives.

Their frequent and attractive nudity perhaps encourages these more attitudinal performance – like acting your socks off. Gelman did actually leave his costume designer at home: the boys spend most time in jocks.

Afterglow is a fun and titillating show putting gay relationships and bodies centre-stage, even if the endless kissing gets hollow by the end.

Martin Portus

Photographer: Cameron Grant, Parenthesy