Samuel West directs After Electra, April De Angelis’ deeply moving and blisteringly witty black comedy challenging what it means to be a mother and exploring how the choices we make can change our lives forever.

It’s Virgie’s birthday, and at 84, she is bucking conventions with a very surprising trick up her sleeve. Always a more committed artist than mother, Virgie has not reckoned on her family and friends’ determination to thwart her distinctly unusual birthday plans. Will her loved ones consent to her last wish or could the secrets of their past stand in the way of her true happiness? Their decision turns out to be very wrong indeed.

After Electra marks De Angelis’ first play staged on the London stage since her acclaimed comedy Jumpy at the Royal Court and in the West End. Her other plays include Catch, a collaboration with four other female playwrights, and Wild East at the Royal Court.

West’s directing credits include Waste at the Almeida Theatre and Dealer’s Choice at the Menier Chocolate Factory and at the Trafalgar Studios, while as an actor his work includes title roles in Hamlet and Richard II for the RSC, Jeffrey Skilling in Lucy Prebble’s Enron.