Albatross, an epic family drama about the boundaries of love and devotion in the age of climate catastrophe, written by acclaimed Suffolk playwright Martha Loader and directed by Menagerie Theatre Company Co-Artistic Director Patrick Morris, is coming to Ipswich’s New Wolsey Theatre on Tuesday 19 May 2026 (7pm), as part of a tour.
What does one generation owe the next?
This is the question at the heart of this timely new play from award-winning playwright Martha Loader, brought to the stage by an all-East Anglian creative team. Martha is an Associate Artist of the New Wolsey Theatre, and a Bruntwood Prize and George Devine award winner, whose previous play, Bindweed, played at New Wolsey Theatre in June 2024.
Martha was commissioned by Menagerie Theatre Company to write Albatross after being on their Young Writers’ Workshop. She began writing it after interviewing female Antarctic researchers, and the fictional story is deeply informed by their lived experiences.
When Alice returns from a gruelling Antarctic odyssey, she finds that everything has changed. There’s been a flood, a funeral and a new romance. At 1:30am, her daughter Alba is sleeping. Her mother, Eve, has never been more awake. And Alice? Maybe the cracks she discovered in the Antarctic ice have followed her home.
Blending the everyday with the extraordinary and transporting the audience to the Antarctic without ever leaving the kitchen table, Albatross encounters mighty questions of motherhood, the explorer’s soul and how to be a hero in today’s world – diving deep into the ways in which the climate crisis can pull family ties apart.
Images (c) Ashley Day
Patrick Morris, Albatross Director & Menagerie Co-Artistic Director, said: “Living and working in East Anglia you can’t ignore the effects of climate change, with sea levels rising and coastal erosion. ‘Albatross’ doesn’t have a top-down approach though – it goes for the guts, weighing real choices that people have to make. Then thinking about what we owe to future and previous generations, Martha takes us on an emotional roller coaster – I don’t think there’s a more poignant play to see right now.”
Martha Loader, Albatross writer, said: “I’m delighted that Menagerie are taking ‘Albatross’ on tour this spring across my home region and beyond. 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.”
There will be a 20-minute post-show talk following the performance, offering a chance for the audience to ask cast and creatives questions.
Albatross is also touring to other East Anglian venues including Colchester Mercury Theatre (28-29 April), Fisher Theatre, Bungay (7 May), St George’s Theatre, Great Yarmouth (8 May), Drama Studio, University of East Anglia, Norwich (9 May), Cambridge Junction (12 May), The Cut, Halesworth (14 May), Wells Maltings (15 May), Sheringham Little Theatre (16 May), Quay Theatre, Sudbury (20 May), Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft (21 May), Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds (22 May).
To book tickets for Albatross at New Wolsey Theatre on 19 May, visit: www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/events/albatross
