Almeida Theatre pauses show after audience members left feeling faint during graphic scene

The Almeida Theatre was forced to pause a performance of The Years on Monday night, following reports of audience members feeling faint during a specific scene.

According to a story in The Times, “mainly male” spectators had to call for medical aid during a graphic abortion scene in the play, directed by Eline Arbo and adapted by Arbo from Les Années by Annie Ernaux (now translated by Stephanie Bain). The scene is said to come halfway through the show. The Times reports that during the stop, audience members called out to the actors, asking why there hadn’t been warnings for the depiction.

The actors, in response, accurately stated that a series of warnings had been, and continue to be, available on the Almeida Theatre website. Signage with the same details was also displayed before the show in the theatre foyer.

In a statement to The Guardian, the venue said: “The performance on Monday of The Years was stopped for 10 minutes so that our front of house team could provide care for an audience member who required assistance. During the stoppage, care was also provided for three other audience members. All audience members were quick to recover after brief assistance.”

The play follows one woman’s life across five key moments, performed by Deborah Findlay (Orlando), Romola Garai (Scoop), Gina McKee (Dear England), Anjli Mohindra (The Lazarus Project), and Harmony Rose-Bremner (Hamnet).

The creative team features Thijs van Vuure (music supervisor and sound designer), Juul Dekker (set designer), Varja Klosse (lighting designer), Rebekka Wörmann (costume designer), and Amy Ball (casting director).