Althea Young - Twenty-Eight

Resident 22 –27 June 2026

Teeth are our bodies' most identifiable signifier of class. They are political and personal. They are symbols of beauty and value. They are the tools we use to eat, to stay alive. The fear of losing teeth is the fear of death itself.  

During her Tramway residency, Althea Young will be devising a new work, Twenty-Eight, which explores her family autobiography, disability in poverty and the hard-hitting realities of dental care in America. There are more than 70 million Americans without dental insurance, so why doesn’t the tooth fairy collect adult teeth?

Drawing from her own childhood experience in tooth sales (20 sales in total), Althea herself will become the tooth fairy in an attempt to appraise the value of all 28 adult teeth, asking; What are we owed for our losses? 

Twenty-Eight is about the magical ways real people care for one another and what it’s like to feel helpless in the face of suffering. Above all, it is a call to arms against greedy systems which exploit vulnerable people. 

In the room will also be collaborator-director Lucy Gaizley of 21 Common.

Follow Althea on Instagram/ @althea_later_alligator