After The End, Stratford East

Stratford East, it's been a while.  

Stratford East will always be one of my favourite theatres. I can’t remember the first play I saw here and there have been more than a few and it’s been here in East London longer than I was born.   

Even with all the regeneration that has happened in Stratford over the last two decades, Stratford East remains unchanged. It even looks the same to me as it did all those years ago.  

The diversity of the storytelling and tellers, casts, writers and crews have made it so special. It represents the community of which it is a part of so well. There have been so many stand-out performances that keep audiences coming back again and again. Not just for us to be entertained but to challenge us to think, to experience, to connect and be represented through its variety of performances.  

Joan Littlewood’s legacy continues to thrive and live on in her theatre in Stratford.  

“My Life Was Built On The Rock Of Change”

Joan Littlewood

I can’t imagine Stratford without it, especially as it has always been accessible and affordable to most. This has been imperative as it is the heart of one of the most culturally diverse but economically deprived London Boroughs, Newham. I am glad it is positioned on Stratford's more economically deprived part. It’s a reminder of the foundation it was built on as a creative hub for diverse stories that provoke discussion and discourse relating to the world we live in and entertaining us.  

I was glad to get an old skool notification (a letter in the post) of their upcoming play, After The End. Since I have been on a few theatre visits masked up, it was time to go closer to home to an old favourite. After receiving a discount code from the theatre, I checked in with some friends and booked our tickets.

Ahead of the play, I received an email from the theatre with a trigger warning that there would be scenes of sexual violence and strong language. I forwarded it to the group chat with the two friends I was going with, so they could also be pre-warned. This must be a new thing that theatres are doing which is really helpful when the content is going to be really emotive and potentially triggering.

I arrived at the theatre a bit early and headed for the bar. I ordered a glass of wine (and a bag of crisps). You could assume the world is quite normal right now, but it’s not. 

Looking around at all the theatre and bargoers, I wondered if they were as anxious as I was. It’s day 2 of the invasion of Ukraine, and looking around, I don’t know how “normal life” seems to be going on whilst not so far away. Part of the world is in chaos and under brutal attack. Maybe some people were looking at me drinking wine and munching crisps and thinking the same thing.  

I had to keep reminding myself to breathe deeply and try to keep my emotions in check. I then read through the programme for the play, which I picked up from the bar and instantly felt that maybe this wasn’t the best night for this storyline.

Fuck. We do not get to escape the current events of the world tonight. This play would not be a form of escapism for what was happening, and no one would be able to switch off from it all.   Especially with the constant sirens back and forth outside the theatre as a loud reminder of casualties somewhere in need of urgent help.

After The End, by Dennis Kelly, is a cast of just two people. Mark and Louise, who are colleagues, are sheltering in a bunker after a nuclear blast happens in their city whilst on their way home from work drinks. I won’t give away any more details of the storyline other than it is set in London. 

I updated my two friends when they arrived, feeling like I had unintentionally brought us out for a traumatising night. I don’t think they were quite yet where my anxiety levels were, or maybe they are better at dealing with things that are beyond their control.

I had another quick read of the programme and love the confidence that the whole play rests on the shoulders of these two characters. One of the most emotive plays I have seen, which was also at Stratford East, had a cast of two. I was sure that this was going to be just as good.

And it was. The play was divided into 3 parts - the beginning, the middle and after the end. I really liked that the play was framed this way. It was told over almost two weeks and was 80 minutes long, and it kept me focussed on each scene and the timeline.

The set was done so well. The simplicity of the bunker would have taken so much work to create the right environment and ambience to experience Louise and Mark’s living conditions, and they managed to strike a balance perfectly. It felt quite compact, and we were trapped inside with them but not in a negative or claustrophobic way. More of an upfront and personal way. Even though our seats were near the back, you still feel like you’re not far from the stage. 

From the writing to the intensity of the actors to the set, the sound and the humour in a non-humorous situation makes me, as a writer, just want to run home and create. It really did feel like we were in the bunker with them. There were no intervals which added to the experience.  

I hate intervals. Everyone always steps over each other or comes back in late and annoyingly blocks the view.   I also dislike cliffhangers, just tell me already, so I enjoyed that there were no interruptions. Well….other than someone who was sitting in front of us and scrolling socials on her phone.  

If this was you, please get out of your phone for at least a few hours. I am not sure why she wasn’t interested in whether Mark and Louise survived the blast and being “trapped” with each other. Most people have an annoying colleague that you would hate to be stuck with for longer than necessary, so that part was pretty much relatable for everyone.

It felt like the intense scenes of violence, and sexual violence were as carefully crafted as possible for the audience to experience what the characters were going through without it being overly drawn out for dramatic effect.  

Dennis Kelly and the creative and production team delivered this story so well. There were parts that I could tell that they wanted to give the scene justice but not overly trigger the audience, and it had the right amount of content. At the time of rehearsing, they wouldn’t have realised how connected to our current day the play would be. The night we went was also opening night.

The closing scene was quite surprising. The mixture of compassion, empathy and, quite possibly, stockholm syndrome added an unexpected angle to the story. I am sure some would be divided on the ending, and interestingly my friends and I didn’t discuss this part of the story at dinner afterwards.  

I think it did what it intended to do. It wasn’t our story to decide on how someone should respond to something that happened to them. It was the end of Mark and Louise’s story for us but left me thinking about what would happen next for them both.  

This is why I think creatives are so important to our evolution as human beings. Experiencing someone else’s story and vision of that story helps us deepen our thinking, judgement, opinion and empathy. 

Long live the arts. I would have made it as a writer if I had a production at Stratford East alongside all these amazing creatives, writers and storytellers.  

After The End was great on every level and a great way to kick off the other productions that will be coming up at Stratford East in 2022, it's good to be back.

Directed by: Lyndsey Turner

Written by: Dennis Kelly

Cast: Nick Blood and Amaka Okafor

https://www.stratfordeast.com/whats-on/all-shows/after-the-end

Theatre Royal Stratford East

Gerry Raffles Square

Stratford

London

E15 1BN