‘Afterglow’: A Glossy, Provocative Portrait Of Messy Modern Love

A glossy yet intimately tangled look at modern love, Afterglow is a racy, emotionally charged relationship drama that captivates even when its story feels familiar.

Written and directed by S. Asher Gelman, inspired by his own experience, Afterglow first premiered in 2017 and arrives in Sydney as an intimate three-hander exploring the evergreen complexities of polyamory and open relationships.

The production embraces vulnerability—emotional and physical — offering a candid portrait of how desire, communication and connection can quickly become complicated when boundaries begin to blur.

The play follows married couple, Josh and Alex, played by Matthew Mitcham and Julian Curtis, who invite a third, Darius, into their bed. What begins as a casual encounter built on clear expectations gradually becomes tangled as feelings deepen and loyalties shift, revealing how fragile even the most carefully managed relationships can be.

The play opens with a bang, or more specifically a sultry silhouette of the three spilling straight into the titular afterglow, wasting no time in establishing its tone of playful yet intense exploration of desire.

Rather than assigning a villain, the play explores the messiness that arises when communication falters and emotional expectations collide. While the story follows expected beats of a classic menage a trois, Gelman approaches with keen nuance, reminding us that there’s no fix-all nor can you have it all (as Ben Affleck once sagely said, “marriage is work”).

And when it comes to it, the performances are what really sells the emotional complexity.

Curtis is a grounding force among the trio, bringing subtle weight with pure physicality and making him immediately relatable in his simmering frustration.

Mitcham navigates the production’s physical demands with ease, portraying a confident yet quietly excitable Josh whose turmoil surfaces as the relationship begin to fracture.

Matthew Predny‘s Darius radiates bubbly warmth and vulnerability, perfectly embodying the naïve energy of someone opening themselves to love and connection for the first time.

Together, the trio brings palpable desperation and emotional complexities, each in a distinct and equally affecting way.

Technically, Afterglow is sleek and visually polished. A mirrored stage creates a fluid performance space that quite literally reflects shifting dynamics.

Scene transitions often unfold to contemporary (if slightly dated) feeling beats, with actors swaying and moving around as they subtly reset.

At times, these transitions pull the audience out of the world, but they rarely detract from the overall effect.

At the centre, a working shower becomes one of the production’s most memorable elements, serving both sexy and heart breaking purposes — a site for intimacy as well as during one of the play’s more raw breakdowns.

The stage basks in stunning saturated hues, creating what can only really be described as full-on bisexual lighting.

There are times when the show can feel a little stifling, leaning into drama with dialogue that isn’t particularly subtle. So, those looking for something with a deeper dramatic bite may find it a little light.

But combined with plenty of nudity and just enough humour, the show embraces a deliberately raunchy energy that makes it feel like a perfectly provocative watch for Mardi Gras season.

For audiences willing to bask in glossy intimacy and messy emotional entanglements, Afterglow absolutely hits as an engaging, relatable look at the complicated realities of modern love, with plenty to discuss after the curtain falls.

Afterglow is running till 22 March at Eternity Playhouse.