SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES THE TRANSFER OF THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SELL-OUT ALMEIDA THEATRE PRODUCTION THE YEARS
RUNNING AT THE HAROLD PINTER THEATRE
FROM 24 JANUARY – 19 APRIL 2025
ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY ELINE ARBO
BASED ON NOBEL PRIZE WINNER ANNIE ERNAUX’S LES ANNÉES
IN AN ENGLISH VERSION BY STEPHANIE BAIN
“It moved me in ways theatre often tries to but rarely achieves.” – The Independent
“There is so much emotional depth, surprise and theatrical virtuosity here that it holds you rapt across the ages.” – The Guardian
Internationaal Theater Amsterdam’s new Artistic Director Eline Arbo returns to direct her five-star, sold out “masterpiece” (The Guardian) adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux’s critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical novel The Years. Having run to critical acclaim at the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam and at the Almeida Theatre from August – September 2024, it will now transfer to the Harold Pinter Theatre from 24 January – 19 April 2025.
Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai*, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner reprise their “extraordinary performances” (Observer) playing one woman in this mesmerizing, personal and political story, set against the backdrop of our rapidly changing world.
“MEMORY NEVER STOPS. IT PAIRS THE DEAD WITH THE LIVING, REAL WITH IMAGINARY BEINGS, DREAMS WITH HISTORY.”
She strikes a pose and the camera shutter clicks: a child playing in the debris of the Second World War. Click. A student discovering parties and men’s bodies. Click. An activist fighting for the right to choose. Click. A wife picking out a velvet sofa. Click. A mother taking her eldest to judo. Click. A lover seducing a younger man. Click. A grandmother presenting her granddaughter to the camera. Click.
The original production and adaptation of The Years was first produced as De Jaren by Het Nationale Theater in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2022.
The creative team includes; Music Supervisor and Sound Designer: Thijs van Vuure; Set Designer: Juul Dekker; Costume Designer: Rebekka Wörmann; Lighting Designer: Varja Klosse; Casting Director: Amy Ball CDG;Associate Director: Yasmin Hafesji.
*Romola Garai will be in performances of The Years until 8 March. Further casting will be announced at a later date.