Ellen Leslie
Written by Sam and Jacob Bellamy, After Careful Consideration examines the timely subject of the UK’s graduate job crisis. More and more people are going to university, but there are not enough jobs, meaning graduates are struggling to get any job, never mind one that uses their degree. This is the predicament that flatmates Dan (Sam Bellamy), Amelia (Skye Kaune), Caitlin (Ellie-May Rooke) and Jonno (Amber Moore) find themselves in. Over the course of the show they search for their dream jobs, take on temporary work to tide them over, and rant about the unfair capitalist world they live in.
Each character has different circumstances, reflecting how different graduate life can look like. Amelia manages to land a graduate job fairly quickly, while Caitlin ends up working at Tesco. Dan has put in countless job applications and had no success, while Jonno is very much still in the student lifestyle, living off her dad’s money and getting drunk on cheap wine from the corner shop. Their very different circumstances inevitably cause conflict within the group, and their friendships begin to fracture.
The storyline centres around Dan’s difficulty in finding a job, and Bellamy plays the role of the dishevelled, deflated graduate well. We can really feel the impact that his job hunt is having on his mental health; and with each passing day, he becomes more anxious about receiving rejections, and less motivated to submit more applications.
His attitude contrasts with Amelia’s, who is bubbly and positive, and encourages him to keep applying. Their secret relationship is unnecessary: as Caitlin points out, it’s hard to keep it from the others when they all live in one house. Although Amelia’s drunken flirting is funny at first, it does get cringey, especially because they seem like an unlikely couple.
As the only one with a full time job, Caitlin is the one that holds the flat together. We can really see her excitement at finally getting a job slowly fizzle away, until it’s replaced for stress due to working long hours and cleaning up after the others. Jonno’s refusal to get a job, or do anything other than drink and laze around the flat is annoying, but necessary to round out the friendship group.
While the struggles experienced by graduates are explained well, the show does lack diversity when it comes to their personal circumstances. They are all privileged, and have their parents to fall back on. Amelia is shocked that Dan has borrowed money from Caitlin to cover the rent, saying that you should go to your parents, and not your friends. It would benefit from having a character who doesn’t have this safety net to demonstrate the real consequences that can arise from the state of the job market.
After Careful Consideration is a fresh concept, standing out among the influx of shows portraying student culture. It is good to see a play that examines the harsh realities of struggling to get a job, rather than just poking fun at the unemployed arts graduate, and it’s definitely highly relatable for lots of graduates.
Recommended Drink: a box of wine, purchased from your local corner shop.
Performances of After Careful Consideration have now concluded at EdFringe 2026.
Bethany Ramsay
Tom Clayton
