S. Asher Gelman’s international hit play, Afterglow, is heading to Melbourne for its highly anticipated Australian premiere at Midsumma later this month.
The plot, essentially about a gay married couple in an open relationship, is one extremely close to the heart of its creator and director.
“Towards the beginning of 2014, my husband Mati (on whom the character Alex is based) and I decided to open our relationship,” explains Gelman. “A couple of months later, I entered into what became a very intense extramarital relationship with another man. Being so new to consensual non-monogamy, Mati and I lacked the experience, knowledge, and vocabulary to help us navigate that situation, and it nearly torpedoed our marriage. Two years later, I decided to take what was, at the time, the most dramatic thing that had ever happened to me and write my first play about it. The personal significance of the play continues to open itself up to me in exciting ways, and nine years after we opened Off-Broadway, I find myself identifying with the material even more deeply. In addition to spending the past 17 years with Mati, my partner Stef (with whom I also work) and I recently celebrated five years together. The three of us are a family and the play is dedicated to the two of them.”
Gelman began writing Afterglow in his first playwriting class, back in April 2016.
“By October, a dear friend insisted I have a first reading of the finished play, at which it was clear to me that I needed to move the play from page to stage. I sent the play out to about 40 general managers, and the only one who read the play, and was interested in even taking a meeting with me, was Evan Bernardin, with whom I continue to share a deep and meaningful collaboration and friendship. He believed Afterglow could become something. In June 2017, we opened the first production of Afterglow at the 69-seat Loft at the Davenport Theater. After we first opened, one of the most consistent pieces of feedback we received at the time, both from audiences and critics, was that our then two act play would be much stronger as a one act play. So, a little over a month into performances, we went back into rehearsal and revised and retooled the show to become a single-act 90-minute play, and that version ran for well over a year Off-Broadway. All that said, the play will only be truly “finished” when I die; I am constantly making updates to it with every production, including this one. ”
Gelman says a typical writing day doesn’t really exist. He admits to working best under pressure, but without it, it’s very hard for him to just sit down and ‘bang’ something out.
“When I want to write, I create high pressure situations for myself that force me to write” he says. “Once I have a new idea for a play and I feel confident that I could write it, I schedule a reading of the play about a month out and invite all my people to the reading. Then about two weeks before the reading, I begin writing the play, and as the pressure builds and the time until the reading decreases, I become exponentially more productive. My ultimate fear is that people will make time for my reading and I won’t deliver something that is worthy of their time. So I make it worthy of their time, even if it means that I don’t sleep for the 48 hours leading up to the reading. It’s all very irresponsible; my approach to writing gives my partner Stef anxiety. He’s much more organized than I could ever dream of being.”
Unsurprisingly, the work examines trust, loyalty, and communication, and what happens when it falls apart. Much like Gelman and his husband, the characters of the play lack the experience, knowledge and vocabulary to navigate their situation, and ultimately suffer because of it.
“As our Associate Director Robbie Simpson (who originated the role of Alex) said recently in rehearsal, ‘if these characters could have seen Afterglow, they’d have made different choices’. In general, we don’t really know how to address and communicate our wants and needs, to the point where we often become afraid of them, especially when we perceive those wants and needs may create conflict with the people in our lives, particularly our romantic partners. When we learn how to communicate better, our relationships become stronger and more fulfilling, both with others and ourselves.”
Gelman says he is always a proponent of communication, in particular, having the difficult conversation, whatever that may be.
“In many cases, we become quite fearful of our wants and needs and spend a lot of time projecting or assuming how other people, especially those close to us, might feel about them. I remember when we opened in NYC, one of my acquaintances flat out refused to take his husband of ten years to see Afterglow, for fear the play might open up difficult conversations within their relationship that he wanted to make sure they never had. I found that heartbreaking; building a life with someone you are afraid to have difficult conversations with. Whether or not we care to admit it, we place social hierarchy on romantic status. We describe relationships as “successes” when they last and “failures” when they don’t. Because of this, there are so many people who spend decades together solely out of fear of failing at their relationship and being alone. The loneliest thing is not being single. The loneliest thing is, in fact, sharing a life with someone you don’t actually connect with. People change. People grow. Sometimes they grow together. Sometimes they grow apart. A relationship ending is not a failure unless we truly did not learn anything from it. Evolution is success. Stasis and regression is failure. Communication is a muscle. Honesty is a muscle. Connection is a muscle. The more we exercise them, the stronger they get.”
After its Off-Broadway success, and further productions around the world, Gelman is excited to be finally bringing the production on to Australian soil.
“We’ve been circling an Australian production for years! In fact, we’ve been meaning to bring the show Down Under since we first closed the original production in New York. Truly, our participation in the Midsumma festival came about from stars finally aligning (and a truly fantastic Australian team putting it together), and we couldn’t be more excited!”
Gelman is incredibly pragmatic about the knowledge that his play has travelled around the world and the success it has brought him.
“Look, at the end of the day, you make a thing, you hope your mother likes it, and then everyone else is just a bonus. It’s crazy to all of us that, nine years later, Afterglow is still just as relevant as it was when we first opened it Off-Broadway. Each new production becomes a part of the Afterglow family. It means the world to me that audiences all over the globe have embraced Afterglow; that I continue to see new, exciting interpretations of the play, sometimes in languages I barely understand, while still understanding every word. I do not take that for granted for a moment. I truly could not be prouder of our little play that could.'”
As a writer and creative, Gelman believes the best theatre compels you to think, rather than telling you how.
“Many things can be true at once – a sentiment that truly gets lost in this day and age of social media and polarization, where we are told to flatten and simplify nuance and intricacy because, well, the platforms aren’t built for complexity. They’re built for simplicity. They’re built to push all of us into truly binary thinking. Good/Bad, Black/White, Right/Left, Right/Wrong. I love theater that tells us that this is true, and that is true, and this other thing is also true, and then challenges us, as audience, to negotiate how to fit all of those truths together. I love being challenged to examine complexity, especially in a world that insists simplicity.”
Based in New York, this is Gelman’s first trip to Australia and, he says, he has nothing but praise to heap on this extraordinary place, and, of course, the wonderful Aussies who make it so magical.
“We’re currently rehearsing in Sydney (which is gorgeous) and got to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Opera House. While we’re rehearsing the play and exploring the city, my partner Stef and I have been enjoying many of the incredible offerings of the Sydney Festival. Once we move to Melbourne to open the show, we’ll be taking in the Midsumma Festival as well! We also escaped to the Gold Coast for a beautiful weekend. In total, we’ll have been in Australia for about six weeks by the time we head home, and it’s already clear to us that we need to come back!”
The stellar cast of three comprises Julian Curtis (Gaslight, Cock, Dance Academy), gold medal winning Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham (Strangers in Between, Jock Night, The Pool) and Matthew Predny (Titanique, Avenue Q, Kinky Boots).
After its critical success Off-Broadway and productions around the globe, Afterglow now brings its modern, intimate exploration of desire, honesty, and connection to Melbourne audiences!
Says Gelman, “We’ve built a beautiful production that I am exceedingly proud of. It’s our fourth production of Afterglow, and every time, we have the luxury of being able to fold in more colours, shapes, and textures to the play. Nine years in the making, with both original and new collaborators, this Australian production is truly the best version of Afterglow we’ve ever made. It’s a labor of love, and we can’t wait to share it with all of you!”
January 30 – February 8
https://www.midsumma.org.au/whats-on/events/afterglow/
In story image: Cameron Grant Parenthesy
