After Sunday
Written by Sophia Griffin
Directed by Corey Campbell
A Bush Theatre and Belgrade Coventry co-production
Opening at Bush Theatre on 10 November
5* whatsonstage
‘An honest, empathic portrayal of a world that is often
hidden, misunderstood, and misaligned’
5* whatsonlive
‘Combines brilliant writing, beautiful performances, and live on-stage cooking
to make for an original and deeply affective theatrical experience.’
A Bush Theatre and Belgrade Coventry co-production
After Sunday
Written by Sophia Griffin
Directed by Corey Campbell
Set Design – Claire Winfield
Costume Design – Naomi Thompson
Lighting Designer – Ali Hunter
Composer & Sound Designer - XANA
Dramaturg – Grace Barrington
Cast – Darrel Bailey, Aimée Powell, David Webber, Corey Weekes
10 November – 20 December 2025
Monday - Saturday at 7.30 pm
Wednesday matinees – 19, 26 Nov, 3, 10, 27 Dec at 2.30 pm
Saturday matinees – 15, 22, 29 Nov, 6, 13, 20 Dec at 2.30 pm
Relaxed performances - Sat 22 Nov, 2.30 pm & Thurs 11 Dec, 7.30 pm
Captioned performances – Thurs 27 Nov, 7.30 pm & Sat 6 Dec, 2.30 pm
Audio described performances and touch tours - Sat 29 Nov, 2.30 pm & Thurs 4 Dec, 7.30 pm
Press Night – Wednesday 12 November at 7 pm
“Maybe that’s what cooking is, you know. Home in a pocket.”
A funny and affecting debut play from Bush Writers’ Group alum Sophia Griffin, After Sunday, which opens at Bush Theatre on 10 November (press night 12 November), is a searing examination of the intertwining lives of four people as they fight to find hope for a better future. This world premiere production, a co-production with Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, directed by Belgrade Theatre Artistic Director Corey Campbell (Romeo and Juliet), features live cooking on stage.
Ty, Leroy, and Daniel have signed up for a new Caribbean cooking group. It’s led by their Occupational Therapist, Naomi, who really needs it to go well. Believing in the healing power of food, Naomi is brimming with plans to evoke memories of Sunday dinners at home with family, to get the men to talk, share, and create something special.
But when you’re locked in a secure hospital, too much food for thought can be a bad thing.
Each Sunday, the hospital is transformed by the smells and flavours of home, and together the four embark on a challenging journey of self-discovery, where it’s not just the pans that threaten to boil over. As the heat in the kitchen rises, the group is forced to confront uncomfortable truths – not only about their true selves, but also about the actions that led them to become trapped within the system.
Sophia Griffin is a writer, theatre maker, and proud Brummie. She is particularly interested in character-driven stories and exploring themes of family, culture, and the impact of absence.
During her time on Birmingham REP’s Foundry programme, Sophia wrote and performed her first solo show, F*ckboys. Since then, she has developed new writing projects with Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers’ Group, British Council, and BBC Coventry Voices. Sophia was also part of the writers' room for the series, SeaView, in collaboration with The Belgrade Theatre and Strictly Arts Theatre Company.
Director Corey Campbell is the Creative Director of the Belgrade Theatre, having previously been the Theatre’s Co-Artistic Director for 2021. Corey is also the Artistic Director of Strictly Arts Theatre Company, formerly supported by the Belgrade’s Springboard talent development programme. Through productions such as Green Leaves Fall and the critically acclaimed, Edinburgh sell-out show Freeman, Corey has used a collaborative, devising process to bring stories from real people to the stage, building long-lasting relationships with audiences through targeted workshops and outreach programmes, with a particular focus on African and Caribbean communities.
In December 2019, Corey devised and performed in Club 2B, an immersive experience which saw the Belgrade’s B2 auditorium transformed into a cabaret lounge and featured live music, theatrical performances, and interactive gaming tables. Corey’s flagship production for the Belgrade in his tenure as Co-Artistic Director has been SeaView, a new digital television series created, produced, and filmed in the West Midlands using a unique Writers Room project which involved local emerging writers from the region. SeaView was created using theatrical devising techniques from an original, pre-pandemic idea by Corey. It celebrates a Black working-class aspirational family and all the things they come up against on their journey to achieve great things. SeaView premiered at the Belgrade in 2021.
In 2022, Corey directed the new drama, Fighting Irish, which was a sell-out success and marked Corey’s final project for the Belgrade as Co-Artistic Director for UK City of Culture 2021, before he moved forward to commence projects as Creative Director. Most recently, Corey devised, directed, and starred in the acclaimed Belgrade Theatre production, BigAunty, in April 2023. In February 2024, Corey directed an acclaimed new Belgrade Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet.
Darrel Bailey plays Daniel. Darrel is a West Midlands actor who trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He recently performed in the original London cast of Storehouse.
Other credits include: Yippee Ki Yay (UK/USA); Small Island (National Theatre); As You Like It; The Merry Wives of Windsor; and Orsino / Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night (Open Bar); Oedipus (Almeida); Alice in Wonderland (Brockwell Park); Much Ado About Nothing (St Paul’s, Covent Garden); and an immersive production of One Hundred Trillion (Dot Collective).
Darrel has previously starred in Shadow and Bone (Netflix), EastEnders (BBC), and in several short films, including Role, Fixing War In Post, A&E, and The Zero Hour.
Aimée Powell plays Naomi. On stage, she has appeared in The Lonely Londoners (Kiln Theatre); Family Tree (Actors Touring Company); Nothello (Belgrade Theatre); Crongton Knights (Pilot Theatre); Freeman (Strictly Arts Theatre Company); Night Light (Mandala Theatre), and Feed the Beast (Birmingham REP). Her on-screen appearances include Art Detectives (Black Dog Television), Seaview (Belgrade Digital Media and Strictly Arts), and Doctors (BBC). On the radio, she has appeared in This Little Relic and The Archers (BBC).
David Webber plays Leroy. David’s theatre includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Bridge Theatre); Small Island, Barber Shop Chronicles, Death and the King’s Horseman, and Leave Taking (National Theatre); Watch on the Rhine (Donmar); A Place for We (Talawa); The High Table (Bush / Birmingham Rep); The Hudsucker Proxy (Nuffield Southampton / Liverpool Playhouse); When Blair Had Bush and Bunga for Lee Menzies; Catch 22 (Northern Stage); Sweet Bird of Youth (Old Vic); The Government Inspector (Young Vic); Twelfth Night (Nottingham Playhouse); The Wizard of Oz and Night and Day (Theatre Royal Northampton); The Big Life (West End); What’s in the Cat (Royal Court); Master Harold and the Boys (Southwark Playhouse); Othello and The Sneeze for Good Company; The Bassett Table and Hiawatha (Bristol Old Vic); Flyin’ West, The Looking Glass, King Lear, The Lion, Smile Orange, The Road, and Antony and Cleopatra (Liverpool Everyman for Talawa); The Beatification of Area Boy (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Downfall (Manchester Court); No-one Writes to the Colonel (Lyric Hammersmith); and Remembrance (Tricycle). His film appearances include Hard Truths, The Children Act, Captain Phillips, Broken, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, London Voodoo, All or Nothing, 51st State, Among Giants, The Avengers, and Getting Hurt.
On television he has appeared in My Lady Jane, Get Millie Black, The Bastard The Son and The Devil Himself, Death in Paradise, Year of the Rabbit, The Educatoror, Chewing Gum, Holby City, Youngers, Nan, The Royal Bodyguard, How Not to Live Your Life, Being Human, No Heroics, Pieces of a Silver Lining, Funland, The Taming of the Shrew, EastEnders, Grass, London’s Burning, Homie & Away, The Knock, Accused, Prime Suspect, 2 Point 4 Children, Coronation Street, and Brittas Empire. His radio work includes Forty-Three Fifty-Nine.
Corey Weekes plays Ty. Corey trained at ALRA North and his theatre credits include Grimeboy (Birmingham Rep) and Miss Julie (Doncaster CAST). On television, he has appeared in Champion (BBC/Netflix), Coronation Street (ITV), and Doctors (BBC). His film credits include Smoker’s Delight (Agile Films) and Black (BBC). As a writer, Corey’s debut show Rapsody – a rap-based gig theatre piece on Britain’s underclass, was the recipient of the Pleasance’s Charlie Hartill Theatre Reserve 2022 and had a month’s run at The Pleasance (Edinburgh). Corey then went on to win Off West End’s Adopt A Playwright Award 23/24. Corey is the recipient of Paines Plough’s 2025 Playwright Fellowship. He is also Co-Director of That’s A Rap, a rap theatre company focusing on the representation and inclusion of working-class and other underrepresented voices in the theatre and beyond. In 2025, That’s A Rap collaborated as Lyricists for the Rap and R&B musical adaptation Romeo and Juliet, a Belgrade Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, and Hackney Empire Co-Production.
ENDS.
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Tickets
The Bush has updated its pricing structure this season to make tickets cheaper and help audiences find the deal that’s right for them. The theatre has moved away from dynamic pricing and released more £15 tickets than ever before. The concession rates are now all £5.
After Sunday
Previews: £15
From 13 November: £20
Concessions available.
Tickets can be booked at bushtheatre.co.uk or the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.
With a Bush Theatre season ticket, the more shows you book, the more you save.
Bush Theatre members get the best benefits, including discounts on tickets and savings at the bar. Free memberships are available for under-30s and local residents. See the Bush Theatre’s new website for details.
