ALBATROSS by Martha Loader
Touring Spring 2026: Book tickets now!
What does one genaration owe the next?
Award-winning Martha Loader is one of the finest young playwrights working in Britain today. Albatross takes us to the very boundaries of love in the age of climate catastrophe. Do our deep family ties make us act with more care or blind to catastrophe?
Alice, a successful scientist, returns from a gruelling Antarctic trip, to her daughter Alba and her mother Eve. There’s been a flood, a new romance and now a strange gift. It’s 1.30am. Alba sleeps. Eve has never been more awake, dreaming of freedom from a life of commitment to others. And Alice? Maybe those cracks she discovered in the Antarctic ice have followed her home. And maybe they’re also calling her to go back…
Albatross explores how we mess up when we just want to make things better. Like all families, it is explosive, tender and often hilarious. It reveals the human heart to be more vulnerable than we hope but stronger than we believe. And throughout it all, the burning question – what does one generation owe the next?
The team behind the Albatross 2026 Tour:
Writer - Martha Loader
Director - Patrick Morris
Actor, Alice - Caroline Rippin
Actor, Eve - Agnes Lillis
Actor, Martin - Patrick Morris
Set Designer - Chris Dobrowolski
Composer - Michaela Polakova
Lighting Designer - Paul Bourne
The Journey to Albatross:
Our partners: British Antarctic Survey & the University of East Anglia
BAS (British Antarctic Survey) has supported Martha in the development of Albatross in an unoffical capacity since the very beginning of this project. They are now offical partners and will support on the development of accessible information boards for the tour, relating to the themes of the play and real-world Antarctic research.
We will also be working closely with Professor Steve Waters at UEA (University of East Anglia) who is providing dramaturgical support as we work towards the production.
Menagerie & Martha Loader
Martha Loader was part of Menagerie’s Young Writers’ Workshop 2020-21. We commissioned ‘Albatross’ in 2023, with a work-in-progress as part of Hotbed 2024.
Martha is a playwright, actor, and producer from Ipswich. Alongside Menagerie, her work has been presented by HighTide, Mercury Theatre, and INK. She is an Associate Artist of the New Wolsey Theatre, and was also attached to the Almeida Theatre as part of their ‘Genesis New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme’. Her play BINDWEED won the Judges Award at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022 and she was the Winner of the George Devine Award 2025 for her play The Town.
Research & Development
Albatross is rooted in 2 years worth of research and interviews undertaken by Martha with Antarctic researchers from around the globe, including the British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge. Martha has intentionally interviewed many female researchers, including mothers, to understand their specific experience of working in the Antarctic.
Researchers Martha has spoken to include Dr Amelie Kirchgaessner, Dr Morgan Seag, Dr Rowan Whittle.
Martha has also worked alongside eco-theatre practitioners Dr Andrew Burton and Prof Steve Waters to develop this work. Steve is now an official partner on the project, offering in-kind dramaturgical support.
You can keep up with Martha and everything she’s up to on her BlueSky and Instagram
OUR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS
Funding also provided by: The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust