Lifeline
Southwark Playhouse Elephant
- Opens: Saturday, 28 March 2026 -
Booking until: Saturday, 2 May 2026
Lifeline description
Lifeline is a dazzling musical exploration of a real threat we all face.
Blending the work of Alexander Fleming's 1928 discovery of penicillin with Jess and Aaron's contemporary story, Lifeline delivers a unique musical theatre experience.
The show sold out twice at the Edinburgh Fringe, ran Off-Broadway for five weeks, was the first musical performed at the United Nations General Assembly, toured the USA, played in London and Glasgow, and has even been staged at the Houses of Parliament. There's clearly a massive West End musical hit in the wind!
You'll meet Jess, a doctor whose estranged childhood sweetheart Aaron is battling an AMR antimicrobial resistance infection he developed after a routine cancer operation. Almost 100 years after Fleming's world-changing medical discovery, will his antibiotic miracle cure still work well enough to save Aaron's life?
Originally called The Mould that Changed the World, the show was redeveloped in 2023 to include stories from real AMR patients around the world. It stars a chorus of real-life health workers and scientists alongside the professional cast, together creating a heart-warming celebration of the ordinary people who make extraordinary things happen.
It is also a powerful wake-up call for humanity, since AMR kills five million people around the world every year. As the antibiotics we depend on become less and less effective with global over-use, life-threatening infections are fast becoming incurable and lethal 'superbugs' are on the prowl.
This production moves hearts and changes minds. Be entertained, learn something vital, buy Lifeline tickets for an influential London theatre experience to remember.
