Interview with Alexander Millington

Ahead of us, what are we going to do when this is all over? arriving at the Buxton Fringe as part of its 2026 tour, I caught up with Alexander Millington to discuss immersive storytelling, memory, trauma, and the unsettling emotional terrain at the heart of the production. Created by award-winning company Split Infinitive, the play blends autobiographical performance with intimate audience interaction to explore the darker side of love, secrecy, and memory loss. Asking how far we’re willing to go to protect the people closest to us.

What first sparked the idea for what are we going to do when this is all over?

Helen and I (we run Split Infinitive together) had been wanting to do a play that was more hard-hitting than some of our previous work. Our last productions have been comedic, where as what are we going to do when this is all over? is very much a dark drama. For a long time I’ve been wanting to write a play about memory and how it can play tricks on you, and following working on our last production (A Caravan Named Desire) we finally saw a way into this sort of narrative.

The play explores memory loss in a deeply unsettling and psychologically complex way. Why was it important to approach the subject from a darker perspective?

I approached the topic of memory loss from my own experience of caring for my grandmother when she was suffering with dementia. In some ways I can be thankful that her dementia developed relatively slowly, but watching her change over the years, becoming forgetful, hallucinating, losing the ability to move, talk or even recognise me was heart breaking. When you’ve seen someone you love change like this, it’s hard to see this as anything other than dark.

From Helen’s perspective, she has been struggling with her memory on and off as she goes through the perimenopause and, as such, we wanted to highlight some of the issues and symptoms that women go through during this time. We realised there was some correlation between the two ideas and have tried to use dementia and the menopause as a way of creating a story that people will be able to connect with.

Helen and Alexander’s relationship feels emotionally loaded from the outset. What interested you most about exploring love under pressure?

From my own perspective, I have always been fascinated at how relationships change as pressure is applied and taken away. I’ve always loved the work of modern British playwrights such as Pinter for this. It’s amazing to put two people in a room and see how they change when different factors come into effect.

What are we going to do when this is all over? is Split Infinitive’s fourth touring production, but only the second time that Helen and I have acted together. Working with Helen in this way is amazing, because, as a married couple, we feel so comfortable with each other in our everyday lives, to be able to act together and apply this pressure on stage creates a really great dynamic.

Split Infinitive’s work often blurs the lines between theatre and lived experience. How autobiographical is this production?

As with all of our productions, what are we going to do when this is all over? is littered with honesty and truths from both mine and Helen’s lives, from our pasts, from our current situations, from actual conversations - nothing is off limits! With regard to what is and isn’t autobiographical however, well, you’ll just have to come and judge that for yourself!

The title itself feels hauntingly open-ended. What does this mean to you personally?

Life is hectic, we’re always rushing to do the next thing; the next course, the next promotion, the next house, the next anything! People always have aims and goals, but we rarely seem to consider what we are going to do when we have achieved that goal - normally we just set a new one (I’m guilty of this myself). The play is called what are we going to do when this is all over?, but in a way the play also asks ‘how do we know when it’s over?'

The production tackles themes of child abuse, sexual assault, and secrecy alongside memory loss. How did you approach handling such difficult material responsibly?

As I mentioned, I have had some experience with caring for my grandmother when she had dementia, but we have also conducted research into topics of memory loss further to ensure we address this as a topic realistically. With regard to the child abuse and sexual assault, these are topics Helen and I have explored in the past, we are both firm believers that nothing should be off limits with regard to what can be portrayed on stage, as long as it is addressed appropriately and sensitively. For us, appropriately means that research has been conducted to ensure honest, realist representations, as well as ensuring that what we produce on stage isn’t featured simply to shock or sensationalise, but should be vital to the plot.

Your productions are known for their immersive qualities. What can audiences expect from the interactive side of this show?

We love to get the audience involved in our shows, but we always do this in as unobtrusive ways as possible. As someone who isn’t too keen on audience interaction myself when watching a play, I understand the fear that an audience member can feel when picked out - and it is fear! We invite the audience to come with us on a journey, to share in our stories and memories and maybe they will have the chance to share some of their own with us too. If they’re lucky, we might even let them be part of a little party too!

What conversations have emerged during rehearsals that surprised you?

The rehearsal room is my favourite place to be when working on a new play. I write a lot of the script in one go after discussing possible plot points with Helen and researching the topics. Once we get into the rehearsal room, the script might as well go out the window. As a two person team, we are constantly bouncing ideas off of each other to develop a play. For what are we going to do when this is all over? the biggest surprise (so far) is conversations around the ending. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you!

How do you balance realism with theatricality in such an intimate production?

I would say it’s the intimacy of the production, and the spaces in which we choose to perform that adds to, and even reinforces, realism over theatricality. I cannot deny that we use theatrical conventions (stage lights, time jumps, music, etc.), but the realism comes from the acting, from our conversational style of delivery. I’m a believer in what scholar Richard Schechner said, "Realistic acting assumes that the emotions of the character are like those of “real people”, even if the characters are dancing across treetops or living in a galaxy “far, far away.” They […] pilot spaceships through a time warp across billions of light years – but when they speak, they speak ordinary language in the ordinary way."

Your previous productions, such as A Caravan Named Desire and I Heart Michael Ball, have earned strong recognition for bold storytelling. Does this show feel like a progression of Split Infinitive’s style?

Absolutely. With each of our productions we try and push things a little further. We are constantly developing our style to incorporate more autobiographical elements to blur reality and fiction, to create work which really makes audiences think about what it is they are seeing and what they are being told. We want our audience to question whether what they are being told is truth or lies, and to decide for themselves what (or who) is right or wrong.

Immersive theatre can sometimes make audiences feel vulnerable. How do you build trust within the room?

When you come to see a play, or any type of performance, there is a power dynamic in action. Usually, the performer is in charge; the audience have come to see the performer, the audience will sit, and listen, then clap and leave. Most audiences are happy with this dynamic. As soon as a performer breaks that fourth wall, inviting the audience to join them, this dynamic shifts. The audience has now gained power because they can shape things (big or small), and the performer has lost power because the audience could do anything that leads the play off track.

We see our style of performance as much more collaborative, we welcome contribution, but only when the audience feels comfortable in doing so, there is no pressure to take part if they don’t want to. We always try to ease our audience into the interactions. We have a chat, we ask questions, we ask for experiences, we might even invite them to join us on stage, but each step is done gradually and consensually. If you’re in the audience and you don’t want to interact, you don’t have to, but just bear in mind that those who do may have a very different experience.

What do you think audiences misunderstand most about memory loss and cognitive decline?

There’s regularly an assumption that it’s a sign of old age. That when you get to a certain again, 70, 80, 90, it’s suddenly expected that you will be forgetful, but we rarely consider that can happen to anyone. It might just be struggling to remember the name of something, or maybe you can’t remember what you did yesterday, last week, last year, ten years ago. No matter how severe, or when this experience occurs, it’s easy to find it quite unnerving.

What does independent theatre allow you to explore that larger institutions sometimes can’t?

The larger institutions have too much of a focus on the finances. They need big shows which are big hits and draw in big audiences. Don’t get me wrong, we’d love all of those things, but working on the fringe circuit and touring around smaller studio spaces, we are able to take a few more risks with our work. The cost to hire a small West End theatre for one performance is £10,000 (we’ve asked!). That’s before marketing, staffing, or anything to do with the actual production. When you are looking at those sorts of costs, you need to have a hit.

We have been so fortunate to have been awarded Arts Council England funding through the National Lottery for three productions now, and thanks to this we can afford to take the risk of looking at these harder hitting topics, knowing that they might not be for everyone. Theatre, like most art forms, is filled with risks. Working in the independent theatre sector, allows us to minimise that financial risk whilst still pushing our productions further.

If audiences leave with one feeling or question, what would you most want that to be?

A feeling of uncertainty, not in an underwhelming sense, but in a way which makes them consider what they have just seen, what parts were real, what parts were fiction, and what does this mean moving forward.

A huge thank you to Alexander Millington for taking the time to speak with me about what are we going do when this is all over. With its exploration of memory, trauma, secrecy, and emotional survival, the production is set to be one of the most intense and thought-provoking pieces at this year’s Buxton Fringe. The show runs at Underground @ Spring Gardens throughout July before continuing its wider tour later this year. Tickets and further information can be found via https://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/