Review: After Party, Traverse Theatre - Thought provoking | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | Travfest26

Morna Young's After Party receives its world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a part of TravFest26. After Party plays at the Traverse Theatre until Sunday 30th August. Read my review below.

Liz Kettle and Alison Peebles in After Party. Photo: Marc Brenner

After Party ★★☆☆☆

Review: 9 August 2026 | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Paines Plough productions are always top of my list to see on any theatre programme. After Party, the new play from Scottish playwright Morna Young, is a co-production between Paines Plough and Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, premiering at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

Directed by Paines Plough's Artistic Director Katie Posner, and with a large cast and creative team full of experience, on paper, After Party is an invitation to see what should be one of the top new theatre works of the festival.

The reality, however, is less enticing. For a show with so much promise, it feels a little laborious and unpolished.

After Party centres on retired actress Vivienne Blackwood (Alison Peebles), who, at 80 years old, has invited her family to a party at her lavish home to announce that she is going to die. No, Viv isn't ill (not that we're made aware of anyway), but she has chosen to die in her own home and on her own terms. To her family's horror, Viv explains that this will be her last evening; for tomorrow she has arranged an assisted suicide.

The party that follows is meant to be her final hurrah; a celebration of Vivienne's glamorous life. (The forced use of the term 'Glam-ma' grows old very quickly.) But her bickering, fractured family have their own problems, and the evening goes off the rails.

After Party by Morna Young at Traverse Theatre. Photo: Marc Brenner

There are a lot of characters and a lot of subplots in Young's play that at times overshadow the central theme. And because of that, unfortunately, After Party outstays its welcome, running over two hours, with a short interval. Backed by a beautiful, stylish set by Richard Kent, After Party begins to feel less and less like traditional Fringe theatre.

Not all of the performances match the elegance of the grand backdrop, but Gilly Gilchrist is hilariously petulant as Viv's son Geoff. And the always excellent Liz Kettle stands out as Carol, Geoff's ex-wife, whom he can't fathom why has been invited to the party

Despite some witty dialogue, Act I of After Party soon loses its spark and could be trimmed a bit to reach the pivotal point sooner. The scenes set the next morning, with Viv in bed, surrounded by her loved ones and a doctor as she makes her final decision (Act II), are really well done and sensitively handled.

With such a thought-provoking subject at its heart, After Party does have the foundations for an intriguing, topical family drama. But it takes too long to reach the crucial moment via too many clunky extra characters with their own side quests. ★★☆☆☆

• After Party is at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh until Sunday 30th August 2026

  
  

• Read more reviews from TravFest26 here: https://www.lisainthetheatre.com/blog/tags/travfest26

• Find all my Edinburgh Fringe coverage here: https://www.lisainthetheatre.com/edinburgh-fringe