Director & performer Patrick Morris talks new play ‘Albatross’: “Fifteen years of austerity have created a much sparser artistic landscape”

The Norfolk and Norwich Festival presents this environmentalist play as part of its 2026 edition, exploring climate change and human relationships through the bond between a mother and a daughter during an Antarctic expedition. Guillermo Nazara chats with the show’s creative to learn more about its ingrains and a subject everyone should keep a weather eye on.

How does it feel to premiere your work as part of this year’s festival? 

We’ve long wanted to stage a show at NNF and this felt like the right one: an East of England writer alongside a completely East of England creative team and cast.

How did the idea for the show come about?  

We, Menagerie, commissioned Martha Loader to write a play, and she came back to us with the idea of exploring women’s and mothers’ experiences of working in Antarctica. The word ‘exploring’ is particularly pertinent there, as that’s so much of what the Antarctic mythology is about – exploration, adventure, risk.  That mythology has been built around men’s stories, so one of Martha’s starting points was what the mythology might mean for a mother to engage with.

The piece deals with the climate change crisis while exploring the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship. What enticed you to approach this subject through that lens?  

Well, that came through Martha’s writing and the creation of the two central characters, Alice (the Antarctic glaciologist) and Eve (her mother and carer for Alice’s daughter). We’re looking at ‘care’ in a macro way – through Alice’s vital research in helping us understand the effects of climate change for the coming generations. We’re also looking at ‘care’ on the micro level – through Eve, who has spent her life putting other people first and has been looking after Alice’s daughter during her long absences. Essentially, it’s looking at the subject through the relationship between Alice and Eve, bringing it to a human level.  

One of the show’s key themes is the idea of what generations owe to each other. How is that explored throughout the plot?  

I think that’d be giving too much away!

Do you think there’s been a reversal in people’s general concern with climate issues?  

Quite the opposite – if anything, our concerns have actually become more intensified in both positive and negative ways.  We might respond in different ways (resistance, action, terror, head-in-the-sand), but it’s heightened concerns all round. 

What generation is more prone to take action against the climate crisis: the younger or the older? 

You’ll have to ask someone who actually knows more of the facts on that. But as you’ll see from people getting arrested and even imprisoned for action against the climate crisis, the ages span from late-teens to early eighties and beyond!

Is the piece intended as a comment on the current climate-change situation — or perhaps a call to action?  

It’s not a call to action, it’s not that kind of play.  ‘Albatross’ is about how the human heart works under intensely stressful conditions (in non-medical ways!).  This is not a play that lectures people – it’s about a mother and daughter who are actually very close and who are dealing with specific pressures in their lives, which bring them into conflict. One of the characters happens to be a glaciologist.  She is also a mother. And a daughter.  They’re both trying to be the best they can be – but the circumstances and their own human fallibilities make that much, much more difficult! 

What other themes have you intended to explore in the play?  

I think those are enough, don’t you?!

What creative challenges have you faced throughout the show’s development, both during the writing and rehearsal process?  

Menagerie is a small, dynamic new writing theatre company.  We are inherently creative and enjoy a challenge.  However, fifteen years of austerity have created a much sparser artistic landscape.  Support for the arts in general is much thinner on the ground, and we have to make ever more difficult choices while always striving for an entertaining, engaging, and beautiful piece of work to offer.  And that, fundamentally, is our biggest creative challenge – keeping our eyes on making the best piece of theatre under the circumstances we find ourselves.   

What are the prospects for the show after the festival?  

We continue our East of England tour right up until 23rd of May, then we go to Omnibus Theatre in London for a week.  We already have interest from a theatre to re-mount the production in 2027, so let’s see!

Why come see ‘Albatross’? 

It is a play showing two great characters at their best and worst with each other.  It is a highly emotional piece which explores care, climate, and the lengths we’ll go to for love. And it’s by an award-winning writer!  (We only pick the best). 

Albatross will play at UEA Drama Studio on 9 May as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara