Highbury Fields, Islington. An ordinary 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.
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See here for production website.
See here for behind the scenes rehearsal video.
See here for my recorded introduction to 81(Life).
Photo credits: Mark Dawson
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Programme Note:
Creating a show is a surreal process. Especially when making an existential slightly-abstract multi-genre show with 60 people, which engages with four big questions of human life: how to begin, how to join, how to choose, how to let go. Starting this process, my creative well had run dry. 81 (Life) came to me at a good moment, because the weekly sessions of devising with All Change, Cardboard Citizens and Islington Community Group have brought me consistent joy and inspiration for a year.
The challenge of this project was to create a structure that could ‘match’ the talent and spirits of 60 community participants. To do this, I turned to my favourite pieces of art for guidance. I travelled to Brussels to watch Sun and Sea, a Lithuanian ‘climate-opera’ created by Lina Lapelytė, Vaiva Grainytė and Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, which inspired our opening scene. Other references include Kae Tempest’s album Let Them Eat Chaos; dance choreography like Ballet Black’s Then and Now and Pina Bausch’s Seasons March; reality TV shows Gogglebox and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire; Hua Hsu’s novel Stay True; Branden Jacob Jenkins’ Everybody and Haley McGee’s Age is a Feeling; and the song The Chair, by our brilliant composer, Alev Lenz.
Thank you to the Almeida Theatre, the Associate Artists, the wider creative & production team, and the community partners for your endless enthusiasm, dramaturgy, ideas and patience. Thank you to Dani and Steph, especially for the long days of brainstorming, and your calm navigation of my dozens of disparate 10-page script excerpt pdfs in your inboxes. Thank you to the cast, for your warmth, generosity, trust in the process, playfulness and boundless offers of creativity. Thank you to my friends for listening to me talk elusively about this ‘community play’. And thank you to you, for coming to witness what we’ve all made together. You are the final piece in our Islington-inspired puzzle. We need you to complete the show. So I am genuinely glad you are here!
- Rhianna Ilube, August 2025
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Review quotes:
“..demonstrating the beautiful diversity Islington has to offer, this was one of the best examples of representation I have seen on stage” - All That Dazzles
“The script is funny. It must have been challenging to weave so many disparate stories together into a complete whole, but writer Rhianna Ilube creates a detailed portrait of the borough, finding universal meaning and magic in everyday situations. There are some great comedy moments, such as helpful neighbours suddenly appearing in living rooms, or a game show where contestants must make the right choice for an important life decision, which turns out to be whether to vary what a man eats for lunch... 81 (Life) builds to a strong ending, as the game show tackles the difficult issue of whether a carer daughter should leave home, with real tact and nuance. The final moments involve a ritual of letting go, with audience participation, which is powerful and moving.” - Everything Theatre
“..a substantial community project, co-devised and developed over several years with the residents of Islington and, crucially, focusing entirely on their area … the sense of collaboration and Ilube’s strong community-building message is both heartwarming and inspiring.” - The Review’s Hub
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Thanks to the Siena Art Instiute in Tuscanny, and Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre (BOARC) in Liverpool, for the time & space to develop this play.