Brink
Performed by the Almeida Young Company
Event details
Fri 1 & Sun 3 May 2026
Brink is a collection of four new plays inspired by Anya Reiss’s upcoming retelling of A Doll’s House performed by the Almeida 14–18 Young Company.
Playwrights Josh Elliott, Seb Gardner, Martha Loader and Stefanie Reynolds were commissioned to write short plays in response to the key themes of Henrik Ibsen’s classic drama. The creative brief prompted each writer to consider the dramatic revelation of a secret which, once exposed, detonates the lives of the characters around it. As relationships are pushed to the edge, the truth destabilises their identities and a hidden rot is unearthed.
Working intensively between January and April this year, the Almeida 14–18 Young Company have explored how to approach new text in performance, working with professional practitioners to perform them on stage.
Running Time Approx. 85mins (no interval)
Fri 1 May 2pm
Sun 3 May 2pm & 7pm
Content Warnings Read more about our production guidance and warnings>
THE PLAYS
Mum Dad Trad Fam
By Stefanie Reynolds
None of us need it. The Trad Card shouldn’t exist. That’s our whole point. We’re all best mates. We never cared about this stuff.
Aliyah, Luca and Danny are college students, who have the privilege of getting a Traditional Family Card. At first, the card seems like a golden ticket but soon the pressure starts to build. It’s not long before their friends’ resentment reaches boiling point, and an uprising is on the cards.
Fifteen Minutes
By Josh Elliott
People don’t always run or fight. They freeze. Especially if they were never taught how to stand up for themselves.
In a shared student house, Nat is the only girl in a tight-knit group – but one night out threatens to ruin it all. Everyone seems to know what happened, yet no one wants to admit it out loud. Fear, guilt and love are in conflict in this devastating story about taking accountability and ultimate responsibility.
Kilo, Foxtrot, November
By Martha Loader
That was your plan, wasn’t it? From the moment you could walk? To join up. Become a squaddy. Until for some unknown reason you suddenly decided to pack that all in with no explanation.
On a beach in Somerset, Kez holds her future in her hands. She wants to go to university, but it feels like pushing against the tide and a sacrifice of everything she’s known before. Meanwhile, her friends are revealing secret plans of their own.
Half Time
By Seb Gardner
That internal clock we all have that makes playing second nature. That makes us who we are. It’s like that clock, it’s just… I can’t feel the tick anymore.
The Arsenal Women U16s team should be at the top of their game. But in the changing room, the cracks are beginning to show. As the captain desperately tries to hold them all together, will the whole team all make it onto the pitch before the second half kicks off?
Production photos
By Mark Dawson
almeida Young company 14 -18
Agnese Arpesani
Dylan Ball
Ines Benghida-Hinks
Kyran Bowen-Maher
Capree Chong
Betty Chorlton
Iris Crane
Billie Dainty
Malik Elijah Diallo
Stella Englisch
Markus Feder
Sonny Fowler
Lexie Goodwin
Henry Gill
Tía Grant
India Rani Gupta-Singh
Cara Gyan
Salma Kort
Alexandra Levitina
Greta Liberatore
Bibiana Louis
Fiona Lynch
Lucia Neophytou-Weir
Katherine Olabode
Charlie Polonsky
Lyla-Rose Rowlett
Isis Montgomery Smith
CREATIVE & production team
Directors Jordi M. Carter and Jessica McKenna
Costume Designer Georgie Lynch
Lighting Designer Fraser Craig
Sound Designer Jack D’Arcy
Associate Director Takiyah Kamaria
Dramaturgs Sarvat Hasin and Takiyah Kamaria
Assistant Directors Maxi Himpe and Izabella Yena
Costume Assistant Lizzie Chute
Costume Placements Sara Navsa and Zharaa Mahamroot
Lighting Supervisor Jocelyn Jung Fu
Sound Supervisor Bryony Blacker
Creative Producers Beth Bowden and Seb Gardner
Assistant Producer Takiyah Kamaria
Company Stage Manager Zuzu Cavallaro
Deputy Stage Manager Janelle Benjamin
Stage Management Placement Anna Lauren Hemasurya
Production Artwork Joe Bottomley
