If you could spend eternity with just one precious memory, what would it be?
A group of strangers grapple with this impossible question as they find themselves in a bureaucratic waiting room between life and death. Encouraged by enigmatic officials, they must sift through their past lives to choose their forever.
Adapted from Hirokazu Kore-eda's award-winning film, After Life is a surreal and powerfully human look at the way we view our lives, and a haunting meditation on what it is to live – and to die.
Written by Jack Thorne from a concept by Bunny Christie, Jeremy Herrin and Thorne, After Life was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in June 2021.
It was directed by Herrin, in a co-production with Headlong, by special arrangement with Buena Vista Theatrical.
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'A compelling vision of eternity'
" - The Times
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'A powerful show with subtlety and tenderness'
" - The i
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'A great idea, charmingly done... Although After Life is based on a film, its best parts are pure theatre'
" - Guardian
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'Miraculous... an absolutely superb play... I was incredibly moved by it... a properly transcendent piece of theatre'
" - Time Out
