Stephen Leach and Mimi Collins on One Breath Before The End
Last summer, we caught an early preview of writer Stephen Leach’s then work-in-progress One Breath Before the End at the Union Theatre. Even in that stripped-back read-through format, the piece was gripping: a tense, unsettling chamber drama that lingered long after the performance ended.
Now, with director Mimi Collins on board, the show returns in a fully staged form for a UK tour this spring, with dates in Manchester, Bristol, and London. We caught up with Leach and Collins to talk about how the piece has evolved, the challenges of bringing it to the stage, and why some questions are better left unanswered.
“It’s been through a lot of rewrites,” Leach tells me. “A lot of feedback from different people, different perspectives. The structure is broadly the same, but we’ve been building out the characters, giving them more context and depth.”
The earlier version we saw already had a strong spine: four characters trapped together as an unspecified catastrophe unfolds outside. What’s changed, it seems, is less the architecture and more the emotional detail.
“You mentioned in your review that there could be more culpability and context,” Leach continues. “So it was about asking: what extra insight do we need? What details are missing that would help the audience understand these people better?”
Collins agrees that the essence of the piece remains intact, but intensified. “I don’t think it’s a wholly different play,” she says. “But it will feel stronger. We’ll have more time with the actors, more character work, more connection. And that means when those connections fracture, it hits harder.”
At its core, the play is a tightly wound ensemble piece: four characters, shifting alliances, and a growing sense of unease. That dynamic, Collins suggests, is central to its impact.
“I really love a true ensemble piece like this,” she says. “It becomes almost like a dance. Everyone has to be completely in tune with each other’s energy. When that works, it’s incredibly exciting to watch.”
That sense of fluid, shifting energy is something she’s keen to sharpen in rehearsal. “Every time someone enters or leaves the space, the energy has to change. All four characters need to know exactly where they stand with each other at any given moment.”
One of the most striking elements of the preview was its ambiguity. The audience is never told exactly what is happening beyond the room: only that something is very wrong.
That ambiguity extends to the wider catastrophe itself. “The characters don’t know what’s happening,” Collins says. “So the audience doesn’t need to know either. It keeps them leaning forward, trying to piece it together. And eventually, they realise that’s not the point.”
The original showing at the Union Theatre was necessarily minimal: scripts in hand, limited rehearsal, and a barebones setup. This time, the team is aiming for a fully realised production.
“We’ll have a full set, lighting, sound,” Collins explains. “A lot of the atmosphere will come from the design: building that sense of something ominous creeping in.”
Sound, in particular, remains a key focus. Even the rumble of trains overhead in the original venue added an unintended but effective layer of tension.
“That’s really interesting,” Collins says. “We’re definitely thinking about how sound can create that feeling, without ever fully explaining it.”
Two of the original cast members return, joined by two new additions following a highly competitive audition process.
“We had a phenomenal amount of interest,” Leach says. “Even now I’m still getting messages asking if casting has finished.”
For Collins, the key is not just individual performances, but the environment in which they’re developed. “Stephen and I have worked together a few times now, and we’re really focused on creating a collaborative space. Somewhere actors feel safe to take risks, be playful, and explore.”
That sense of openness, she believes, is essential for a piece that relies so heavily on chemistry and emotional truth. “If the actors are brave, the audience will feel that.”
The production will tour to Bristol and Manchester before arriving in London, where it will play at The Glitch. Interestingly, the different venues will shape the staging in distinct ways. “Bristol and Manchester are more traditional front-on spaces,” Collins says. “But in London, we’re looking at staging it in the round, which will completely change the dynamic.”
For Leach, this is all part of an ongoing process rather than a final destination. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve ‘arrived’,” he says. “It just feels like the next step. There could be more iterations after this.”
If this fully staged version delivers on even a fraction of the promise of that first outing, this will be a play well worth seeing this spring.
One Breath Before The End plays at the Alma Theatre Bristol from Wednesday 13 to Saturday 16 May, at the 53Two Theatre, Manchester from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 May and at The Glitch in London from Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 May.
