Albatross by George Devine and Bruntwood Prize winner Martha Loader will tour the UK from 28 April to 23 May, before a London run at Omnibus Theatre from 26 to 30 May.
The production is a new mother-daughter drama set against the backdrop of climate catastrophe, directed by Patrick Morris and produced by Menagerie Theatre.
Looking at care for future generations on both a personal and global scale, the play centres on glaciologist Alice and her mother Eve, who has been caring for Alice’s daughter while she works in Antarctica.
When Alice returns unexpectedly in the middle of the night, she is confronted with catastrophic flooding, an altered home life and the emotional consequences of her absence, as unspoken secrets between mother and daughter surface.
As Menagerie describes it, Albatross explores “how we mess up when we just want to make things better” and asks what one generation owes the next.
The play was commissioned by Menagerie Theatre in 2023 after Loader took part in the company’s Young Writers’ Workshop, and is rooted in two years of research and interviews with Antarctic researchers around the world.
Writer Martha Loader said, “I’m delighted that Menagerie are taking Albatross on tour this Spring. The process of writing this play has been an incredible experience. I’m so grateful to the scientists and academics I spoke to when researching the play. Their insight and honesty has been an integral part of creating this story of women’s roles in society in an age of climate catastrophe.”
Loader is the most recent winner of the George Devine Award and previously won the Judges’ Award at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting for Bindweed, which received a four-star review from the Guardian.
The creative team includes set designer Chris Dobrowolski, lighting designer Paul Bourne and composer Michaela Polakova, with Caroline Rippin starring as Alice alongside Agnes Lillis and Martin Patrick Morris.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
