City Lit’s Drama and Writing departments are proud to present We Love and Then We Drown, a new original play showing twice on 31 January in the John Lyon’s Theatre at City Lit.
This ambitious production is the result of a cross-departmental collaboration bringing together Advanced Playwriting students, Drama and Acting students and learners from City Lit’s Technical Theatre Skills Bootcamp. It’s a live example of how City Lit courses connect learning with real‑world creative practice, taking students from script to stage.
From page to performance
The play was selected from original 60-minute scripts submitted by Advanced Playwriting students, and is written by Ruth Gilligan, an established novelist who has been developing her playwriting practice through City Lit courses.
Ruth explains that the project began as research for a novel, and quickly became something more:
“I decided I would sign up for a playwriting course at City Lit. Next thing you know, I had completely fallen in love with it. I signed up for another course and then another, and started to wonder whether actually, I had found a whole new form!”
When the call went out for new plays, the opportunity to see a script fully realised was irresistible:
“I find deadlines incredibly helpful. I knew I wanted to write something that spoke to our present moment. This increasing sense of things approaching breaking point, and the tension between knowing we should drop everything to attend to that, and also needing to keep going with, and enjoying, our lives.”
Inspired by writers such as Alice Birch, Ruth experimented with form, structure, and time, creating a play that moves across different moments in one woman’s life, with love, family, and climate anxiety woven through its core.
A true collaboration
We Love and Then We Drown is directed by Adam Radford, an actor and director who has worked with City Lit Theatre Company on several previous productions. The cast is drawn from City Lit’s Acting & Theatre courses, while the production itself is supported by students from the Technical Theatre Skills Bootcamp.
Reflecting on seeing her work move from script to stage, Ruth says:
“As someone who has always written for the page, I’m used to being in complete control. Whereas now my script is just one part of the process. It’s wild to see it brought to life in ways totally different to how it exists in my head, both totally disorientating and totally fascinating.”
Supporting careers behind the scenes
The Technical Theatre team includes learners from City Lit’s Technical Theatre Skills Bootcamp, a fully funded programme designed to support Londoners into jobs in the creative industries.
Delivered over 86 guided hours with one-to-one support, the bootcamp trains learners in lighting, sound, AV, and full theatre production. Based in London’s Theatreland, the course is co-designed with Camden People’s Theatre and includes shadowing, live event support, and hands-on experience - exactly like We Love and Then We Drown.
The programme is funded by the Mayor of London and the Department for Education and is free for eligible Londoners aged 19+.
What audiences can expect
At its heart, We Love and Then We Drown is a play about connection, between mothers and daughters, between lovers, and between people trying to live meaningful lives in an uncertain world.
As Ruth puts it: “I hope audiences connect with the characters and come away feeling something, rather than thinking this is just another didactic climate play.”
She adds: “The key line belongs to Greg, who says: ‘Just for the record Cath, I think love is the whole fcking reason we do this. The reason we do anything. Otherwise why bother?’ I hope the audience comes away with a real sense of love, human connection, and hope.”
We Love and Then We Drown
Date: Saturday 31 January 2026
Timings: 18:00-19:00 and 20:00-21:00
Location: John Lyon's Theatre at City Lit
Price: £5
