The line between therapy and turmoil is blurred as the stage and kitchen merge in Sophia Griffin’s powerful debut play, After Sunday. A co-production between the Bush Theatre and Belgrade Coventry, this searing new work opens in West London on November 10th (Press Night: November 12th) and has already been lauded for its originality and profound emotional impact.
The production, directed by Belgrade Theatre Artistic Director Corey Campbell, is immediately distinguished by its use of live cooking on stage. Griffin, an alum of the Bush Writers’ Group, sets the scene inside a secure hospital where Occupational Therapist Naomi is desperate for her new Caribbean cooking group to succeed. Her theory is simple: the healing power of food, particularly memories of family Sunday dinners, will compel her patients—Ty, Leroy, and Daniel—to talk, share, and find a path toward hope.
As one character muses, "Maybe that’s what cooking is, you know. Home in a pocket.”
However, when the participants are locked in a secure environment, the therapeutic setting soon threatens to boil over into confrontation. As the men embark on their culinary journey, the rising heat in the kitchen forces them to confront difficult truths—not only about their true selves, but about the painful actions that led them to become trapped within the system. The play offers an honest, empathetic portrayal of a world that is often misunderstood, delivering a deeply affecting theatrical experience.
Director Corey Campbell, known for critically acclaimed productions such as Romeo and Juliet, leads a strong cast including Darrel Bailey and Aimée Powell. With composition and sound design by XANA, the world premiere production runs until December 20th, offering various accessible performances, including relaxed, captioned, and audio-described shows throughout its run at the Bush Theatre.
