Aimée Powell (Naomi) and Corey Weekes (Ty) [Nicola Young]

SET in a secure hospital, three men, Ty (Corey Weekes), Daniel (Darrel Bailey), and Leroy (David Webber), join a Caribbean cookery class run by their occupational therapist Naomi (Aimée Powell). She hopes the sessions will encourage them to recreate the rituals of Sunday dinners and prove therapeutic.

It’s a risky project. Ty and Daniel must be escorted to the kitchen, the knives are kept in a locked drawer, and Naomi has to sign them out for culinary use. Inevitably, the men distrust one another and bickering trumps any attempt at connection. Ty wants to be transferred back to prison. Leroy hopes for release, while Daniel longs to rebuild ties with his family.

Live cooking takes place in Claire Winfield’s realistic kitchen and, as they chop ingredients, we learn about their different backgrounds. Beneath the stage, boxes of the inmates’ medical records remind us of the harsher reality for the men.

The hospital’s impending Family Day becomes the drama’s main focus as the trio prepare offerings for their visitors. The pressure also heightens the tensions between them.

After Sunday is a terrific debut from Sophia Griffin who has a good instinct for engaging theatre. Seating the audience on three sides draws us into the action. Corey Campbell’s brisk production is brilliantly acted, though the cast occasionally lose the end of a sentence leaving us straining to hear.

Until December 20
bushtheatre.co.uk/