Albatross
Menagerie Theatre Company’s Albatross is a new play by George Devine and Bruntwood Prize winner Martha Loader.
Menagerie Theatre Company’s Albatross is a new play by George Devine and Bruntwood Prize winner Martha Loader.
Directed by and featuring Patrick Morris, the production centres on glaciologist Alice (Caroline Rippin), her mother Eve (Agnes Lillis), Alice’s child (unseen but ever present) and Martin (Patrick Morris), Eve’s new boyfriend.
The play really gets going when Alice returns home tired, on edge and surprisingly argumentative. The relationship between Alice and Eve seems fractured from the outset, as though the audience has stepped into the middle of a decades-long argument.
Alice’s supposedly lack of interest in her own daughter and her passionate doggedness around her work make her seem selfish, childish and extreme.
But is she? Or is she simply exhausted from trying to make her mother understand the reality of the climate crisis? Eve dismissively remarks, “ it’s only a bit of weather.”
This generational tension of who is to blame for this climate crisis and who is privileged to be able to deal with it is interwoven throughout the play. Eve’s resentment over sacrificing her own dreams for motherhood contrasts sharply with Alice’s continual struggle to choose between caring for her daughter in the present or protecting the planet for her future.
Whilst this is a play between a mother and daughter the character Martin brings some fumbling light moments as well as allowing for some of the most tender ones to occur.
Martha Loader’s writing is full of humour and compassion whilst tackling big questions. The performances were strong and engaging. It is exciting to see new work and a full audience out to experience it.
Frustratingly, the staging at the UEA Drama Studio was problematic - several rows of the audience were seated at the same level. When the characters sat down I could see so little of the stage that it was more like an audio play. I would have dearly loved to have seen the ice cream moment. This shouldn’t be a problem at the upcoming locations as they have raked seating.
Albatross can be seen at Wells Maltings on May 15th, Sheringham Little Theatre May 16th, The Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft on May 21st.
