Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 370 – June 6, 2018

The Afterglow of
‘AFTERGLOW’
> BY S. ASHER GELMAN Playwright & Director of Afterglow
WHEN I TOLD MY HUSBAND I WAS
WRITING MY FIRST PLAY ABOUT THE
EXTRAMARITAL RELATIONSHIP I’D HAD A
COUPLE OF YEARS PRIOR, HE SAID, “ON
THE ONE HAND, I HOPE THIS PLAY FINDS
STUNNING SUCCESS. ON THE OTHER HAND,
I HOPE IT NEVER SEES THE LIGHT OF DAY.”
NO ONE COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT
WE’D BECOME THE LONGEST-RUNNING
PLAY IN THE 34-YEAR HISTORY OF THE
DAVENPORT THEATER.
EVEN SO, WE PUSHED FORWARD, BECAUSE
WE SAW THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PIECE.
IN THE INITIAL STAGES, ACTORS
REFUSED TO AUDITION IN FEAR THAT
BEING ATTACHED TO THE PRODUCTION
MIGHT STUNT THEIR CAREERS. WE WERE
PRIVILEGED ENOUGH TO FIND A FEW BRAVE
SOULS WHO WERE WILLING TO TAKE THAT
RISK, PUT THEIR FAITH AND TRUST IN OUR
TEAM AND THE MESSAGE OF THIS PIECE,
AND THEY CREATED—AND CONTINUE TO
CREATE—BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCES.
UPON COMPLETING THE FIRST DRAFT
OF “AFTERGLOW” IN OCTOBER 2016, A
DEAR FRIEND INSISTED THAT I HAVE A
PUBLIC READING OF IT. WHILE I’D BEEN
IN PERFORMING ARTS ALL OF MY LIFE,
THIS WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE AS
A PLAYWRIGHT, SO NATURALLY, I WAS
TERRIFIED. AT THE READING, IT BECAME
CLEAR FROM AUDIENCE REACTIONS
THAT THIS WAS A STORY WORTH PUTTING
ONSTAGE.
OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, WE
ASSEMBLED A TEAM OF FANTASTIC
AND PASSIONATE STORYTELLERS,
FEARLESS ARTISTS WHO WERE EXCITED
BY THE CHALLENGES PRESENTED BY THE
PRODUCTION. THESE COLLABORATORS
FOUGHT TIRELESSLY FOR THE PIECE AND
ELEVATED IT FAR BEYOND ANYTHING I
COULD HAVE EVER CONCEIVED BY MYSELF.
WE KNEW THIS SHOW’S CONTENT,
FROM THE SUBJECT MATTER OF NON-
MONOGAMY TO FULL-FRONTAL NUDITY—
INCLUDING AN ONSTAGE SHOWER—WERE
POTENTIAL DRAWS, BUT ALSO COULD
MAKE IT HARD TO FIND AN AUDIENCE.