Evening All Afternoon
26 February 2026
Donmar Warehouse
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Anna Ziegler’s play Evening All Afternoon is currently running at the Donmar Warehouse until the 11th April. The play focuses on two women, worlds apart and yet united through grief and mental heath struggles. Jennifer is about to marry Delilah’s father, she’s an NHS administrator with a quiet life, until she meets a much younger man and embarks on a new chapter of life. Delilah is still struggling with grief for her late mother, unable to understand how her father could marry a woman so wholly unlike his previous wife. While Jennifer tries to forge a bond with her new stepdaughter, Delilah falls into a spiral of grief that threatens to break her life apart.
The story unfolds on a deep blue stage, evoking the colour often associated with mental health struggles, but also representing the NHS in which both Jennifer and her new husband work. There is very little stage dressing apart from that, keeping the focus on the two characters and their words. A revolving centre offers some movement, while Jen and Delilah circle each other, one trying to connect and understand, the other desperate to vilify and destroy out of anger and grief.
There’s an emotional undercurrent washing through the entirety of the 90 minute play, putting words to deeply held emotions and building both women’s characters up beautifully in front of the audience. The darker parts of the narrative slot into the narrative effortlessly, illustrating the mental health challenges with a soft hand without flattening the impact.
This isn’t easy watching, a deeply touching story full of grief and pain, leaving a deep impact behind long after final curtain. Evening All Afternoon is a gorgeous exploration of the darker sides of life, gently exploring grief and depression, love and loss. A profoundly touching play that examines empathy and connection through an intrinsically human lens.
