‘I do not know which to prefer’ says the Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, a sentiment that could easily apply to the two sharply contrasting women at the centre of Anna Ziegler’s understated yet sharply drawn new play Evening All Afternoon. Borrowing its title from the same poem, Ziegler’s world première at the Donmar Warehouse is a tender, perceptive examination of grief, connection and the tentative bridges we build across generations.
Jennifer, in the later years of her life, has married John, a British widower who has returned from the US with his determinedly modern daughter, Delilah. John remains an offstage presence throughout, and Jennifer rarely speaks of loving him. That silence becomes its own quiet revelation, hinting at her deep-seated self‑doubt and a life defined more by obligation than desire. Instead, Ziegler focuses this deftly written two-hander on the uneasy, halting relationship between Jennifer and Delilah.
The pair could hardly be more at odds. Jennifer is conservative and contained, her beige buttoned up blouse and cardigan a visual shorthand for the years she spent caring for her now-deceased mother, only to emerge with little sense of who she might be. Delilah, by contrast, is direct and self-assured, a young woman mapping out her future with clarity and purpose. The only thing they share is the recent loss of their mothers, but even grief divides them as much as it binds: Jennifer attempts to build a relationship, but Delilah pushes back, overshadowed by the memory of her mother, which still haunts her in ways she can barely articulate.
What Ziegler captures so astutely is the rhythm of a relationship that refuses to follow a neat arc. It would have been simple to usher Jennifer and Delilah towards some inevitable reconciliation. Instead, their progress is jagged: moments of warmth give way to sudden coolness, small openings to abrupt retreat. Those chinks of light, followed by setbacks, feel truthful and earned, and they give the play a beguiling richness. Early scenes intersperse dialogue with monologue, planting narrative seeds that later flower into satisfying emotional payoffs. Combined with Ziegler’s wry humour, the result is a piece that is both engaging and unexpectedly moving.
Themes of motherhood, daughterhood and reluctant sisterhood run through the play, and there are flashes of real honesty in the way Ziegler allows both women to bare their souls, sometimes to us, and occasionally, cautiously, to each other. Diyan Zora’s production embraces that intimacy with a simple, carefully chosen set: a handful of knick‑knacks that become quietly significant, a revolve that mirrors shifting emotional terrain, and beautifully judged lighting that plays with shadow and exposure to underline the characters’ vulnerabilities.
The performances, though, are the production’s true anchor. Erin Kellyman, in her professional stage debut, is superb as Delilah. She balances confidence with fragility, never resorting to a cliché of youthful defiance, instead offering a nuanced portrait of a young woman still learning how to carry her loss. Anastasia Hille’s Jennifer is equally compelling. With a soft, deliberate delivery, she reveals the contours of a woman shaped by care and sacrifice, conveying more in a pause or hesitant smile than many roles allow in pages of text.
Evening All Afternoon may be a gentle play, but its emotional resonance is unmistakable. Ziegler’s writing, paired with Zora’s sensitive direction and two quietly outstanding performances, offers a moving study of connection found in unlikely places. In its restraint lies its impact: a finely made play, delivered with a level of care and craft that makes its modest scale feel genuinely rewarding.
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