Firebird

Nominated for the Critics Choice Award and seven Fringe Theatre Awards: Marlie Haco (director), Tomás Palmer (set), Ákos Lustyik (sound), Ben Jacobs (lighting), Mollie Milne (lead performance & newcomer), Double Telling (production).

“You’ve got these twinkling eyes, all bright and dancey… They will love taking that from you.”

Tia has been in care since she was three. She can’t stand her foster mum, and her friends keep letting her down. But when she meets AJ, a charismatic older man, he seems like the answer to all her problems. At first, he is. But AJ has done this before, and after the gifts and compliments come the threats and abuse. When fourteen-year-old Katie moves to town, a chink of light appears in the darkness that’s threatening to swallow Tia.

Firebird is a gripping, unflinching drama about grooming and exploitation, exposing the catastrophic failures of the systems designed to protect children in the UK.

Marlie Haco’s new production combines Davies’ “remarkably potent” text (The Times) with movement and an original score to shine a light on an ongoing national scandal.

This is the first revival of Firebird since its highly acclaimed West End transfer from Hampstead Theatre in 2016.

Performance Dates & Info

9th July - 7th August 2026 - Southwark Playhouse - click here for tickets **extended**
Contact us to buy the published playtext, or click here to purchase directly from Nick Hern Books.

Reviews

“One of the most accomplished pieces of theatre-making currently playing in London... it is a production that demands to be experienced and I would imagine it earns itself quite a reputation. ”

— All That Dazzles

★ ★ ★ ★ - The Stage
- “Marlie Haco’s revival finds fresh relevance… a chilling study of grooming and coercive control.”
- “We’ve seen slick, modern sets like Tomás Palmer’s before, where the characters appear sandwiched between the squares of a wallless box. But rarely is the image of claustrophobia they create – of being trapped with nowhere to run or hide - so fitting.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Theatre To See London
- “Marlie Haco’s direction keeps the fragmented structure engaging throughout, allowing scenes to flow seamlessly without ever losing the audience… unfolding in fractured memories that mirror the confusion and lasting impact of trauma.”
- “Every creative element works together with precision, resulting in a production that feels cohesive and carefully crafted… Thought-provoking, emotionally affecting and driven by exceptional performances, it’s a powerful piece of theatre that leaves a lasting impression.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - The Live Review
- “If Run Sister Run demonstrated Double Telling’s gift for finding humanity within fractured relationships, Firebird applies that same emotional precision to an altogether darker subject. Once again, Haco trusts movement, silence, and physical storytelling as much as dialogue, creating a production that doesn’t simply tell us about trauma - it makes us feel it.”
- “Mollie Milne is extraordinary as Tia. Her performance extends far beyond the script; the trembling mouth, involuntary shaking, retching, and sobbing communicate things language simply cannot… It is one of the most devastating portrayals of trauma I’ve seen on stage.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - All That Dazzles‍ ‍
- “Director Marlie Haco embraces the fractured structure of Davies’ writing and trusts the audience to keep up. The production moves through time with an unsettling, almost glitch-like rhythm... It’s disorienting in exactly the right way… Every word lands perfectly, balanced beautifully against music and environmental sound.”
- “The design work is exceptional… The height of the playing space allows for some beautifully realised moments of duality… The set doesn’t just create locations. It creates emotional states… Hidden trapdoors open unexpectedly beneath the actors’ feet, while sections of the set rise, lower, and disappear entirely. A pulley-operated ceiling transforms the space from open and expansive to crushingly claustrophobic in a matter of seconds.”
- “What lingers most after the final scene is the remarkable cohesion of the production as a whole. Everything feels connected.. . the production speaks with a single voice and it really works.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Read About Stuff
- “Directed inventively and imaginatively by Marlie Haco... over 90 rage-inducing minutes, is the systematic targeting, abuse and exploitation of Tia’s character, where Davies’s writing is lifted by Haco’s superb direction, as well as the necessary yet infuriating failures of the police and care system.”
- “Haco’s deliberate direction of AJ to be suave and charming creates a skin-crawling sense of dread during his first interaction with Tia, setting the tone for the rest of the powerful piece.”
- “Where Firebird becomes an unforgettable watch is through the combination of Haco’s direction, Tomás Palmer’s tremendous set design and Ben Jacobs’s striking lighting choices. Haco’s creative direction allows dialogue-heavy duologues to breathe and evoke tension, while maintaining a sense of tight control over the piece that makes each character feel authentic. Scene changes are sharp and abrupt, keeping a sense of momentum that mirrors the spiralling of Tia’s life, highlighting her psychological collapse viscerally for the horrified audience.”
- “Mollie Milne delivers a captivating, devastating lead performance in a memorable, harrowing piece of theatre, and one that lingers long after its poignant conclusion.”
★ ★ ★ ★.5 - The Reviews Hub
- “Marlie Haco’s direction and Ben Jacobs’ lighting design ensure that each scene is powerful and completely gripping, using frequent swift blackouts, which heighten the tension and suspense remarkably well.”
- “Tomás Palmer’s set design is used constantly to reshape the landscape on stage… The levered-ceiling is raised and dropped constantly, whether it’s to evoke the feeling of claustrophobia while Tia is trapped in an attic room, or to showcase the confined space during a police interrogation, it’s brilliantly done, and really helps to lock in the audience on the action throughout.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Roviews
- “Phil Davies’s script is exceptionally well written… Marlie Haco’s direction and dramaturgy handle the structure with great skill. The production never becomes sensationalist or exploitative… Dramatic blackouts divide the scenes, giving the production an almost flashback-like quality as we slowly piece together what has happened.”
- “This is where theatre proves what it can do that television often cannot. You feel as though you are trapped in the room with these characters, watching the danger grow around them. It reminded me slightly of Adolescence, not because the stories are the same, but because both take an intensely difficult subject and allow it to develop in a way that feels immediate, frightening and entirely believable.”
- “This is absolute theatre: urgent, emotionally involving and performed with remarkable conviction.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - West End Best Friend
- “A tasteful, brave production with incredible performances.”
- “The way that this production starts and ends in the same place, but jumps back in time for the majority of the 90 minutes, is incredibly clever in its tragic portrayal of Tia’s demise.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Theatreland Adventures
- “Milne’s performance is nothing short of phenomenal… utterly captivating.”
- “Each lighting choice was made with purpose and played a powerful part in telling Tia’s story… the set was used cleverly… what first looked like a simple stage turned into something far more impactful.”
- “Haco’s direction really does the story justice, keeping the focus on Tia’s perspective throughout, making every moment feel raw.”
- “I was completely hooked from start to finish. It’s hard not to get emotionally caught up in this play when it’s presented so brilliantly… I’m still thinking about it days later and if I could fit in another trip to see it, I absolutely would.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Everything Theatre
- “The cast are incredible. Milne completely inhabits the character of Tia, expertly creating this prickly character who’s suffered unimaginable horrors as a teenager. The contrast between her cocky attitude towards her friend and AJ when they first meet, and the broken girl we see as the abuse plays out, is remarkable and Milne gives a truly immaculate performance.”
- “Music by Ákos Lustyik, set by Tomás Palmer and lighting by Ben Jacobs work together seamlessly to intensify the mood of the play. Pulsing strobe lights and bursts of electronic music used to cut off the drama, to leave our imagination to fill in the horrors and to reflect the chaotic nature of this new world Tia finds herself in. Even a brief pause for a technical issue didn’t take away from the power of the play.”
- “I leave the theatre with an intense feeling of grief, not just for Tia, but for all the children this has happened to. I’m angry and distraught, but isn’t that what theatre is meant to do? Provoke reaction. Firebird tells a story that we must never forget.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Broadway World
- “Phil Davies’ gut-wrenching three-hander… is a highly character-driven piece, and as such Milne and Nazeer’s performances provide a dynamism that makes a 90-minute runtime feel rapid.”
- “Haco’s production breathes new life into the source material… This fresh, visually engaging production presents trauma in all its complexities and contradictions, and forces us not to look away.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - London Pub Theatres
- "Powerful and eye-catching direction from Marlie Haco, a dynamic set design that makes Tia’s confinement physical and vivid, Phil Davies’ note-perfect dialogue, and a scorching, excoriating central performance by Mollie Milne as Tia.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - LondonTheatre1
- “A chilling new production directed with sharpness and precision by Marlie Haco… It tackles deeply uncomfortable subject matter with honesty, intelligence and compassion.”
- “Tomás Palmer’s superb stripped-back set creates an oppressive sense of confinement and claustrophobia, while Ben Jacobs’ jagged lighting and Ákos Lustyik’s unsettling sound design constantly keep the audience on edge... Every creative decision serves the story rather than distracting from it.”
- “You leave emotionally drained and reminded of theatre’s power to confront difficult truths. And at the centre of it all stands Mollie Milne, delivering the kind of fearless, award-deserving performance that lingers long after the final blackout. This is important theatre, powerfully told, and ten years after it was written, it still resonates loudly.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Theatre Weekly
- “Director Marlie Haco has clearly found the essence of these characters… this revival is anchored by superb performances and a confident production that refuses to look away from an uncomfortable truth. More than a decade after its premiere, Firebird remains an uncomfortable but essential piece of theatre.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - North West End
- “A gripping drama… Nazeer’s AJ has nuclear charm where [Milne’s] Tia has atomic grit.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Thee Reviewer
- “An important play [that] highlights issues that are often ignored but need to be discussed… The actors delivered powerful performances, making the audience truly feel Tia’s pain.”
★ ★ ★ ★ - Th e Theatre Gal
- “Milne gives a devastating performance… Nazeer is chilling as AJ, switching from warmth and charm to aggression with frightening ease… the sense of dread for what’s to come is almost unbearable.”
- “Gordon-Harrison’s brings a sweet innocence and infectious vibrancy, offering a welcome lightness to the darker moments.”
- “Firebird isn’t an easy watch. It’s painful, unsettling and stays with you, but that’s where its power lies. It exposes uncomfortable, harrowing realities and makes space for conversations and topics we can’t afford to ignore.”