‘One Memory for All Eternity!’ – Jack Thorne’s After Life is coming to the Library Theatre in September
Leighton Buzzard Drama Group return to the Library Theatre on September 18th, 19th and 20th, with ‘After Life’, Jack Thorne’s acclaimed stage adaptation of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s award-winning 1998 film.
Jack Thorne is one of the UK’s most prolific and successful writers for stage and screen. His work ranges from the recent highly-acclaimed Adolescence on TV, to the West End phenomenon ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, the award winning ‘The Motive and the Cue’, and TV show ‘His Dark Materials’.
The play is set in a place between life and death. The recently departed arrive in a waiting room and are given a simple but impossible task: to choose just one memory to take with them into eternity. Some know instantly. For others, it’s a struggle. For Henry Thompson (played by Louis Fordham, pictured alongside Charles Merritt, Abiodun Oduyemi, Rob Taylor and Lois Wright) it is butterflies!
Over the course of the week, with the help of the guides who work there, each person must decide. The result is a series of stories — funny, poignant, and deeply human — that together form a portrait of what it means to live.
According to directors Ben Dards and Dee Denehan: “What struck us when we first read the play was its simplicity. The language is unadorned, the scenes are intimate, and yet the effect is extraordinary. Huge questions are asked — about love, regret, joy, and loss — but always through the lens of the ordinary: the taste of food, the sound of laughter, the comfort of a hand held. It is not about great achievements or possessions, but about the small, fleeting moments that matter most.”
“We have worked closely with our cast to balance the play’s humour and poignancy, to allow silences to speak as loudly as words, and to honour each individual story while building a collective experience. Rehearsals have been full of discovery, occasional chaos, and plenty of laughter, and we are proud of what this company has created together.”
Tickets for Thursday are £17 (Concessions £15), for Friday and Saturday £18 (Concessions £16), plus £1.25 booking fee.
Buy your tickets online via www.lbdg.org.uk or the Library Theatre website. The Theatre Box Office is also available for in person ticket purchases from 10am to midday on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Visit or call 0300 300 8125 during these hours.