The Almeida Theatre, in partnership with All Change and Cardboard Citizens, presents
81 (Life)
Co-Created by Rhianna Ilube with 81 local people, Creative Direction by Dani Parr and Stephanie Bain
Event details
Thu 21 - Sat 23 Aug 2025
Highbury Fields. Islington. A day in August 2025. 8.13pm.
60 strangers gather in a park at sunset. They don’t know why they are here, or who invited them, but here they are.
Here you are, too.
They arrive, and they settle into a rhythm. A woman lies alone on the grass. Three old friends catch each other’s eye. A tai-chi teacher sets up shop.
Each of these people are grappling with something big. A turning point, a sliding door, a question without an answer. And tonight they are all going to take their next big step. You’re welcome to join. In fact, we’d love for you to join.
Part poem, part game-show and part play, with original music by Alev Lenz, 81 (Life) is the second instalment of the Almeida’s ‘Islington Trilogy’, following 24 (Day) in 2023. Co-created by playwright Rhianna Ilube, in collaboration with associate artists Darragh O’Leary, Francesca Beard, Ella Zgorska, Jordana Golbourn and over 80 people from three community groups, 81 (Life) is an epic and heartfelt investigation into what it means to be human.
Running Time Approx. 2 hours and 45 mins including an interval.
Evenings 7pm
Matinees 2pm
Content Warnings Recommended for all ages. Read more about our production guidance and warnings>
Rehearsal Photos
By Charlie Lyne
Inside rehearsals
PARTICIPANTS
ALL CHANGE
Ibrahim Aldhfiri
William Anderson
Prem Baboollal
John Badmus
Andrew Bailey
Anthony M Baker
Ann Barefoot
Ambia Begum
Barbara Bentinck
Billy
Stephen Bush
Lloyd Coombes
Alyn Phillips Green
Giselle Johnson
Judi Kennedy
Kouma Lancine
Winston Maughan
Maggie Nicolaou
Colleen Ogbebor
Ruth Pridham
Saroja-Lily Ratnavel
Emilia Risveglia
CARDBOARD CITIZENS
Julian Dobrovsky
Todd Ellis
Gideon
Jurga
Kev’n
Sofi M
KT Marsh
Ocean
Celal Can Orhan
Adar Owuna
Suraj Quessou
Charlie Rose
Sam
Jamie T
Yvonne Wickham
Scarlet the Red Witch
ISLINGTON COMMUNITY GROUP
Aishah Ahmed
Alex Casson
Kiki Collett
Jonathan David
Liane Escorza
Akeem George
Patrice George
Jhané Gibson
Ben Hayes
Meghana Jayakumar
Chloe Johnson
Freya Johnson
Akira – Ningrui Liu
Sarah Madeline
Tiya Malaika
Thami Mqota
Jonathan Roberts
Alejandro Biondi Rodriguez
Rima Shenoy
Anton Shunkov
Harry Stephens
Pamela Stevens
Juliet Webster
Amanda Welsh
Isabella Wise
Creative Team
Rhianna Ilube
Writer
Dani Parr
Creative Director
Stephanie Bain
Creative Director
Darragh O’Leary
Associate Artist and Movement Director
Francesca Beard
Associate Artist and Writer for All Change
Ella Zgorska
Associate Artist and Director of Cardboard Citizens
Jordana Golbourn
Associate Artist and Director of Islington Community Group
Alev Lenz
Composer, Music Director and Vocal Artist
Alev Lenz
Alev is a singer, songwriter, composer and producer based between London and Germany.
For the Almeida:
As Composer and Vocals Artist: Alma Mater.
Film includes: Downhill; All About Me; A Year Ago in Winter; The Lost Girls; Against the Ice; Stowaway; The Old Guard.
Television includes: Dark; Black Mirror; Whitstable Pearl; Funeral For A Dog; The Rain; Room 104.
Music includes: Alev Lenz (Kings Place/ Kaufmann Music Center, New York); Roomful of Teeth (Barbican/ The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art); Anoushka Shankar (Southbank Centre/ Elbphilharmonie Hamburg); Brooklyn Youth Chorus (Lincoln Center, New York); Albums: Storytelling Piano Playing Fraeulein (2009); Two-Headed Girl (2016); 3 (2020).
She is currently one of the first-ever composers in residency for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus’ 2023/24 season. Her previous commissioned pieces for the chorus have seen performances, among others, at the New York Philharmonic Open Weekend and the United Nations. Alev has contributed to several Grammy-nominated records in her role as producer, songwriter and singer.
Beth Bowden
Creative Producer
Kate Bunce
Set Designer
Bolu Dairo
Costume Designer and Supervisor
Bolu Dairo
Bolu is an emerging London based set and costume designer, driven by collaboration and bringing creative visions to life. She is part of the Almeida Makers programme.
For the Almeida:
As Costume Designer: Beyond Her Years (Almeida Young Company).
Theatre includes:
As Costume Designer: Songs of the Famished Roads (Southbank Centre); Much Ado About Nothing (Collective Acting Studio); Fondly Remembered (Theatre at the Tabard); Taming Who?; Excluded! (Arcola Theatre); Stranger Valley (Standon Calling); Metamorphoses (Central School of Speech and Drama/ Curve Theatre, Leicester).
As Set Designer: Prison Plaits; Ain’t I A Woman? (The Tower Theatre); Deadhead (Old Red Lion Theatre).
As Set and Costume Designer: Best Fit (Theatre Peckham); Red Pill (Lion & Unicorn Theatre); Ripped at the Seam (Bush Studios); No For An Answer (Arcola Theatre); Hamlet (Central School of Speech and Drama).
Film includes:
As Costume Designer: The Keychain.
Fraser Craig
Lighting Designer
Bryony Blackler
Sound Designer
Sabia Smith
Costume Supervisor
Sabia Smith
Sabia studied costume construction and supervision at RADA.
For the Almeida: Look Back in Anger; Roots.
Theatre includes: The Parent Agency (Chester Storyhouse); A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage); Next to Normal (Donmar Warehouse/ West End); The Duchess of Malfi; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights; Midsummer Mechanicals (Shakespeare’s Globe); Ulster American (Riverside Studios); Robin Hood: The Legend. Re-written. (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Inquiry (Chichester Festival Theatre); Favour (Bush Theatre); Love and Other Acts of Violence (Donmar Warehouse); Noises Off (West End); Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] (Park Theatre); The American Clock (The Old Vic); Twelfth Night (Wilton’s Music Hall); We’re Stuck! (Shoreditch Town Hall).
Opera includes: Don Giovanni (Lithuania National Opera & Ballet); Aleko; Gianni Schicchi; Gods of the Game: a Football Opera; La Gioconda; The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko; Falstaff; Don Carlos (Grange Park Opera); Zauberland (Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord/ Royal Opera House/ La Monnaie / De Munt/ Opéra de Lille/ Lincoln Center, New York/ Opéra de Rouen); The Marriage of Figaro (Royal Academy of Music).
Dance includes: Message In A Bottle (Sadler’s Wells/ UK and International tour); Anne of Green Gables (Sadler’s Wells).
Access Performances
Concessions
All concession tickets are limited and subject to availability. Proof of eligibility is required. More info
Deaf and disabled patrons and a companion can buy discounted tickets by calling the Box Office on 020 7359 4404 or email boxoffice@almeida.co.uk.
£10 tickets are available to those aged 25 and under for all performances. Limited to two per booker, both attendees must be aged 25 and under.
If you are aged 30 or under, over 65 or are unemployed you can book tickets at a discounted rate for all performances.
If you live or work in the Islington area you can book discounted tickets for all performances, subject to availability. Enter promo code ISFIRST when selecting your seats. Find applicable postcodes here.
Production Supporters
81 (Life) is supported by Big Give – Arts for Impact, Islington Giving and Islington Council’s Community Festivals Fund.
Community Productions at the Almeida
Find out more about our work with the local community and take a look back at some of our past projects.
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Artwork photography by @sorted.tv