Albatross at the Omnibus Theatre is a play about the fractious relationship between a mother and daughter, the sacrifices they make and climate change.
Eve (Agnes Lillis) has been caring for her young granddaughter, Alba, while her daughter, Alice (Caroline Rippin), is working on a climate research project in Antarctica.
With Alice’s imminent return, she is looking forward to getting her life back and going on a cruise with her new boyfriend, Martin (Patrick Morris).
When she does return unexpectedly, it isn’t the greeting that either mother or daughter would have planned, and the atmosphere quickly becomes tetchy.
As both lay out their future plans, the sacrifices they have made are laid bare. Eve gave up the dancing job she loved when she became a mum, while Alice is sacrificing motherhood for her work.
Are the sacrifices equal if Alice is doing important work? Does it feel like a sacrifice when Alice’s obsession with her work overshadows the desire to see her daughter after months away?
It’s a workaholic passion that spills over into frustration with her ‘look on the bright side’ mother, leading to ranty lectures and angry ice cream sculpting on the kitchen table.
Her behaviour is such that it doesn’t make it easy to sympathise with the predicament she finds herself in.
But what it does do is lay bare the challenge of communicating environmental destruction to a populace overwhelmed by all the ‘doom and gloom’, so much so that they have become numb to it.
Like the wonky furniture of Eve’s house, the argument for climate change has become distorted.
The mother-daughter relationship is distorted, too. Eve feels like a more rounded character, with more of a backstory.
Whereas Alice simply seems to have brought the Antarctic chill back with her.
There is no warmth towards her mum or, crucially, her daughter, which diminishes the impact of her argument that she is ‘doing it for Alba and her generation’.
Final thoughts
Albatross, on the one hand, feels like a lesson in how the narrative around climate change isn’t landing as it should. On the other it feels like a slightly uneven family drama. I’m giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️.
Albatross, Omnibus Theatre
Written by Martha Loader
Directed by Patrick Morris
Cast includes: Caroline Rippin and Agnes Lillis
Running time: 1 hour and 20 minutes, no interval
Booking until 30 May; for more information and to buy tickets, visit the Omnibus Theatre website.
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