Albatross at Mercury Theatre, Essex

Albatross, written by George Devine and Bruntwood Prize winner Martha Loader and directed by Patrick Morris, is a new play commissioned by Menagerie Theatre rooted in two years of research and interviews with Antarctic researchers. The play follows glaciologist Alice (Caroline Rippin) and her mother Eve (Agnes Lillis), who cares for Alice's daughter Alba while Alice works to combat the climate crisis. When Alice returns unexpectedly from Antarctica, she is met with floods, unexpected romance, and unspoken secrets between mother and daughter. The play explores intergenerational responsibility and asks what one generation truly owes the next.