About the Play:

After You is a full-length drama by Dave Carley. Adele is dying – and her cousin Jean is helping her. But their final hours together are not as peaceful as they might wish – too many memories intrude. After You is a warm examination of innocence lost, wisdom gained and the endurance of friendship, with a lot of laughs along the way.

After You is a memory play without memories. Cousins Adele and Jean, now in their 70s, the characters live simultaneously in the present and in the past, as their younger selves, and time intermingles freely. They have returned to their cottage on Lake Kawartha, for one last summer. The island cottage is a grand and crumbling place full of memories, both good and bad. Adele has been ravaged by a stroke and can no longer move about her beloved island – except in her dreams. Jean is not well either, but is determined that her cousin’s last summer on the lake will end with grace. As Jean administers Seconal to her cousin, their memories continually invade – and most particularly they recall the summer of 1938 and the young man who was, in their minds, the "fork in the road", the one who determined the paths of their lives.

After You premiered in 1994 by Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary, Alberta. Since then the play has been produced across Canada, including Peterborough in 1998, Vancouver in 1999, Toronto in 2005, and Todmorden Mills, Ontario in 2008.

Cast: 4 female, 1 male

What people say:

"Funny and poignant." — The Globe and Mail

"...a beautifully written, memoir-style story encompassing a lifetime of well-lived, lovingly remembered and retold stories...." — The Weal

"A finely nuanced memory play… compassionately laying bare the truth we hide from ourselves as well as from others." — NOW

"When intelligence and wit collide with sensuality and animal magnetism, fascinating theatre is the result. After You shimmers with a vitality rarely captured in contemporary productions that tackle complex issues unabashed, head on and with no apologies." — Peterborough Examiner

About the Playwright:

Dave Carley is a Canadian playwright. He has written for stage, radio and television. His plays have had close to 500 productions, and have been produced across Canada and the United States, and in many countries around the world. His plays have won, or been nominated for, a number of awards, including the Governor General's Award, The Chalmers Award, The Dora Award, The Arthur Miller Award (University of Michigan) and the New York International Radio Festival Award.