After Party ★★

‘Tis fitting that when the characters of After Party gather for dinner, no food is served and everyone is dismayed, because in this new play by Morna Young at Traverse Theatre, the scrumptious, inviting premise whets the appetite but leaves its guests hungry for more.

Matriarch and grande dame Vivienne Blackwood has summoned her family to her estate for her 80th and final birthday celebration: she plans to die via assisted suicide the following day, and she wants her loved ones by her side as she does so.

This is material ripe for both humor and pathos, and yet neither is achieved. Jokes aplenty are delivered but laughs are few; the dialogue lacks the needed sophistication and wit. Director Katie Posner, who so skillfully directed last year’s far more successful Traverse birthday-party play, Consumed, hasn’t found the right tone for the production, and as a result, the ensemble seems, at best, awkward and adrift. Names will not be mentioned, but two of the performances were among the most amateurish this reviewer has ever seen on a Traverse stage.

On the other hand, two bright spots do manage to emerge from the dross. Liz Kettle shines as Carol, the ex-wife of Vivenne’s eldest son. Every moment with her feels grounded and believable; you never want her to leave the stage. The second is when Hilary Maclean, who plays Vivienne’s ultra-Christian daughter Lily, sings to her mother as she says goodbye. Her voice fills the theatre with beauty and heart, hinting at the possibilities of what this disappointing production aspired to be, an honest examination of a person’s right to call it a day.